Time seemed to drag with leaden wings, until what he thought a decent hour for calling upon Doris began to approach. Then he took a hansom in a hurry, bidding the cabman drive to Earl's Court Square as fast as he could.
It was scarcely ten o'clock when he stood at the great door of the house in Earl's Court Square, touching the electric button, and waiting in breathless suspense for the door to open. No one answered his summons for quite five minutes--which seemed an eternity to him--then the door slowly opened, and a lad in plain livery stood before him.
"Is Miss Anderson in?" inquired Bernard.
"Miss Anderson, sir?" asked the page slowly.
"Yes, Miss Anderson. Has she not arrived?"
"No, sir. I don't know whom you mean, sir. There is no one here of that name."
Then Doris had not arrived! It was a great blow to poor Bernard. "Can I see Miss Earnshaw?" he asked at length.
"No, sir. You can't, sir. She is dead."
"Dead?"
"Yes, sir. She died suddenly yesterday of heart disease. Very sudden it was, sir."