“Lay her down, and I’ll get help.”

A moment, and Sir William Amys came hastening into the room; he was followed by his wife and two or three servants.  Lady Ogram gave no sign of life, but the baronet found that her pulse was still beating.  Silent, still, with half-closed eyes, the old autocrat of Rivenoak lay stretched upon a sofa awaiting the arrival of Dr. Baldwin.

CHAPTER XXV

Sir William drew Lashmar aside.

“What brought this about?” he asked.  “What has been going on?”

Dyce, whose nerves were in a tremulous state, did not easily command himself to the quiet dignity which the occasion required.  He saw that the baronet regarded him with something of suspicion, and the tone in which he was addressed seemed to him too much that of a superior.  With an effort of the muscles, he straightened himself and looked his questioner in the face.

“There has been a painful scene, Sir William, between Lady Ogram and her niece.  Very much against my will, I was made a witness of it.  I knew the danger of such agitation, and did my best to calm Lady Ogram.  Miss Tomalin had left the room, and the worst seemed to be over.  We were talking quietly, when the blow fell.”

“That is all you have to say?”

“I am not sure that I understand you, Sir William,” Lashmar replied coldly.  Being slightly the taller, he had an advantage in being able to gaze at the baronet’s forehead instead of meeting his look.  “You would hardly wish me to speak of circumstances which are purely private.”

“Certainly not,” said the other, and abruptly moved away.

Lady Amys and Constance stood together near the couch on which Lady Ogram was lying.  With a glance in that direction, Lashmar walked towards the door, hesitated a moment, went out into the hall.  He had no wish to encounter May; just as little did he wish for a private interview with Constance; yet it appeared to him that he was obliged by decorum to remain in or near the house until the doctor’s arrival.  Presently he went out onto the terrace, and loitered in view of the front windows.  That Lady Ogram was dying he felt not the least doubt.  Beneath his natural perturbation there stirred a hope.

Nearly an hour passed before Dr. Baldwin’s carriage rolled up the drive.  Shortly after came another medical man, who had been summoned at the same time.  Whilst waiting impatiently for the result of their visits, Lashmar mused on the fact that May Tomalin certainly had not taken her departure; it was not likely now that she would quit the house; perhaps at this moment she was mistress of Rivenoak.

Fatigue compelled him at length to enter, and in the hall he saw Constance.  Involuntarily, she half turned from him, but he walked up to her, and spoke in a low voice, asking what the doctors said.  Constance replied that she knew nothing.

“Are they still in the library?”