I stooped down, and lifting her with some difficulty, carried, or rather dragged her to a couch.
"Quick, booby!" I shouted to Otto. "Fetch one of the women and some water!"
My outcry brought Ilga onto the landing.
"What has befallen?" she asked, leaning over the rail.
"'Tis but a swoon," I replied; "nothing more. There is no cause for alarm."
"Poor creature!" she said tenderly, and came running down the stairs. "Let me look, Mr. Buckler. Ailments, you know, are a woman's province."
I was kneeling by the couch, supporting Lady Tracy's head upon my arm, and I drew aside, but without removing my arm. Ilga caught sight of her face, and stopped.
"Oh!" she cried, with a gasping intake of the breath; then she turned on me, her countenance flashing with a savage fury, and her voice so bitter and harsh that, had I closed my eyes, I could not have believed that it was she who spoke.
"So you lied! You lied to me! You tell me one hour that you have never had speech with her, the next I find her in your arms."
"Madame," I replied, withdrawing my arm hastily, "I told you the truth."