_ CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. TWO NIGHTS OF WATCHING
"Thank goodness!" said Guest to himself, as he moved slightly and saw that his companion appeared to be sleeping heavily; but as he rose Stratton followed his example, looking very pale, but more like himself.
"Morning; how are you?" said Guest.
"Better--much better."
"You should have undressed and gone to bed, and you'd have been better still. How's the shoulder?"
"Gave me a good deal of pain several times in the night, but it is easier now."
"Glad of it, but take my advice; let's have in a doctor, and let him dress it properly."
"There's no need," said Stratton quietly. "A wound only needs to be kept from exposure to the air to heal itself."
"Well, of all the obstinate fellows!"
"Oh, no," said Stratton, with a wan smile. "You see I have been very obedient. If the wound is disposed to turn bad, as I shall soon know, I will have medical advice. If there is no need, surely you can spare me the annoyance of answering a surgeon all kinds of questions, and being tied-down to his routine."
"Well, I will not worry you, old fellow, for you do seem to be better."
"Much," said Stratton quietly. "I only want to be at peace for a time. I think I shall go into the country."
"Will you?"
"Y-e-s, I think I will."
"With me. Then we'll go as soon as you can start."
"No, no," cried Stratton excitedly. "I should be poor company, and would rather go alone."
"Not fit. Look here. Happy thought. I'll ask Brettison in."
"No, no!" cried Stratton excitedly.
"But he's the very man. Quiet, calm, and don't talk. Go and pick buttercups and daisies along with him for a few days, and then come back to me quite _compos mentis_, and we'll see what can be done."
Guest made toward the door, but Stratton intercepted him.
"I tell you no," he said firmly, "and--and--Brettison is out."
"Out?"
"Gone into the country."
"Humph!" ejaculated Guest, looking at his friend curiously, for there was something in his manner which puzzled him. But Stratton said cheerfully:
"Nearly nine. Will you order some breakfast from the tavern?"
"Eh, to be sure. Let's go. No; afraid you are not well enough. I'll send Mrs Brade. But no nonsense," said Guest.
"I give you my word," said Stratton quietly.
"I take it;" and after a visit to the bedroom Guest came back, looking refreshed and ready to go out and order the meal to be brought.
In due time this was at the door, and, to the young barrister's great satisfaction, his friend drank a cup of coffee, and ate sparingly of some dry toast, looking every minute more and more himself.
There were moments when his face twitched and his eyes looked strange; but that Guest set down to the pain of his wound; and in the course of the morning, feeling more and more relieved, he said:
"Look here, old fellow, I think if you'll give me your word of honour there shall be no nonsense, I'll go back to my place and change,"--he glanced at his wedding garments as he spoke.
"Yes, I would," said Stratton quietly.
"You are not going to be ill?"
"Certainly not."
"And I can trust you?"
"Of course."
"Then I will go."
"Oh, yes; I shall be all right now, and I may write to you from the country and ask you to join me."
"Thanks," said Guest dryly; "but you are not going yet. We'll talk about that when I come back."
"Come back?" said Stratton wildly.
"Oh, yes; I shan't be above an hour."
"But, really, my dear Percy--"
"I will not hear a word now. There, let some fresh air into the room; the place smells stuffy; my fault, I suppose. It's as if the ghosts of all the cigars I have smoked here were rising up in evidence against me. Ta ta! I shall not be long."
Stratton made no reply, but smiled at him faintly as he passed out and closed the door after him. But the moment Stratton was alone there was a sudden change. He clasped his hands to his head, and began to pace the room with rapid strides, but dropped one arm directly as he turned pallid with pain.
"What to do?" he muttered--"what to do? Mad? Enough to make me. Well, let them think what they please. It makes no difference now."
He thrust his hand into his pocket and took out a key, and then shuddered; but drawing himself up, he set his teeth hard and crossed to where the easy-chair stood in which he had passed the night, wheeled it from the door, and went to the window after slipping the bolt.
His hand was on the blind, and he was in the act of drawing it down when there was a knock, and he stood as if paralysed.
"Back so soon!" he thought, and, as if recalling the scene of the previous day, when Guest insisted upon admission, he gave a sharp glance round the room, smoothed his hair, and went and opened the door.
"Thank you, sir," said Mrs Brade, stepping in; and he involuntarily gave way. "Mr Guest asked me to come in and tidy you."
"No, no, not to-day. I--"
"But Mr Guest said I was to, sir, and if you objected I was to tell you to be calm. It's very glad I am to see you much better," said the woman, going to the bedroom. "Why, you haven't been to bed all night, sir. I don't wonder you look pale," she continued, re-entering and crossing the room. "Did you use your bath?"
She uttered a wild cry as Stratton rushed at her, caught her by the shoulder with a fierce grip, and swung her away.
"I tell you," he cried, with a fierce growl, "I will not have the place touched. Go! At once!"
The woman was too much alarmed to speak, and, making for the door, hurried out, and made for the porter's lodge, "that agitated," as she said to herself afterward, "that she felt as if she could never go there again."
Stratton wiped the cold sweat from his brow as soon as he was alone, and once more began to pace the room, with the key in his hand. But he did not use it. Thrusting it back in his pocket, he sat down and hurriedly wrote a letter, in which he inclosed a cheque; then looking out an address from a directory, he fastened down the envelope, and opened the window, at which he waited till he saw a familiar face, and asked its owner to slip the letter in the first pillar box.
This act seemed to revive him, and he grew a little calmer. He turned to a cabinet containing natural history specimens preserved in spirits, and taking out first one and then another, he carefully examined them, removing the tied-down stoppers of several of the large-mouthed vessels; and he was still examining one of these, with the spirit therein looking limpid still, when there was a double knock.
His first idea, as he started up, was to hurriedly replace the glass vessel, but a moment's thought decided him upon leaving it on the table and opening the door.
"Back again, you see," said Guest, looking at him inquiringly. "Ah, busy with your specimens. That's right. Nothing like keeping the mind busy; but clear away; the fellow will be here soon with the dinner, and I've brought some cigars. Mrs Brade been?"
"Yes; but you are not going to stay here this evening?"
"Indeed, but I am."
Stratton frowned, but said nothing, and in due time the dinner came, was eaten, and the evening became a repetition of the last, but with the difference that Stratton seemed far more calm and able to keep himself under control.
But as the night wore on he stubbornly refused to go to bed. If his friend intended to stay there in a chair, he would do the same.
"Compulsion will only make him wild and irritate his wound," thought Guest, and twelve o'clock struck as they settled themselves in their chairs as before.
"Better humour him," said Guest to himself, as he felt more content with the change growing in his friend; "he'll be better to-morrow, and then, perhaps, tell me all about his trouble."
The lamp had been turned down, so that the room was very gloomy, but there was light enough for Guest to make out the weird aspect of the busts and various natural history specimens about, one great eagle owl over the door catching a gleam of the lamp, and looking, with its fixed glass eyes, fully aware of the mystery overhanging the place. The various articles of furniture, too, assumed a strange guise, and cast shadows of a startling nature; but, after a few minutes, Guest settled down to the contemplation of his friend, whose eyes seemed to be closed, though a few minutes later a faint scintillation showed that he was still awake and watchful.
But Guest was too weary now to feel any dread. Stratton was evidently sorry for his mad attempt, and perfectly sane, so, after a few brave efforts to keep awake, the young barrister calmly dropped off into a deep sleep, and the busy working of a dream, in which Edie was scornfully telling him that she had discovered all about his escapade with a dark woman resembling the queen of spades, and when he tried to catch her in his arms and convince her that he was a perfectly innocent man, she sprang from her seat, uttering a piercing cry.
Trembling and startled, Guest leaped up, to find the lamp turned to its full height, and, with the strange hoarse cry still ringing in his ears, he saw Stratton standing back against the cabinet farthest from the fireplace, glaring wildly, while from out of the closet, apparently, a curious rustling noise, followed by a dull blow upon something hollow, fell upon his ear. _