“He looked very pale, and his manner was strange.”

“How strange?”

“He seemed to be in trouble about something—​so I thought.”

“Oh, likely enough, girl; the probability is that he was very much troubled in his mind. He gave indications of that when I last saw him, but not to so great an extent as to suggest this act.”

Mrs. Bourne looked hard at the speaker, but said nothing.

“What a strange odour there is in the room, doctor,” observed Amy.

“Odour, girl—​of what description?”

“Like peaches.”

“Umph! Ah—​yes, there is, I admit.”

He took up the medicine-glass, which had fallen upon the floor after its contents had been swallowed by the dead man, and smelt it.