"What is it?" she cried. "Oh, Pauline, I am full of fear—I am sorely full of fear!"
It was Frampton who opened the door suddenly, and stood before them with a white, scared face.
"Oh, my lady—my lady!" he gasped.
"Tell her quickly," cried Pauline; "do you not see that suspense is dangerous?"
"One of the Court servants," said the butler, at once, in response, "returning from Audleigh Royal, has found the body of Captain Langton lying in the high-road, where his horse had thrown him, dragged him, and left him—dead!"
"Heaven be merciful to him!" cried Pauline Darrell. "He has died in his sin."
But Lady Darrell spoke no words. Perhaps she thought to herself that Heaven had indeed judged between them. She said nothing—she trembled—a gasping cry came from her, and she fell face forward on the floor.
They raised her and carried her up stairs. Pauline never left her; through the long night-watches and the long days she kept her place by her side, while life and death fought fiercely for her. She would awake from her stupor at times, only to ask about Aubrey—if it could be true that he was dead—and then seemed thankful that she could understand no more.
They did not think at first that she could recover. Afterward Doctor Helmstone told her that she owed her life to Pauline Darrell's unchanging love and care.