There was a comfortable sound in that homely phrase, yet still it seemed more than mere fainting to me. Doubtless women are accustomed to these little misadventures. They think nothing of them. But with a man, and when it is the woman whom he loves, I defy him to look with equanimity at the still white face, the closed eyes and that apparent cessation of all breathing.
We lifted her on to the settee and Mrs. Bullwell began to apply those remedies which, among her sex, will never pass out of use. She undid Clarissa's collar and her dress. She patted her hands and all with that quiet assurance of manner as though it were just in the day's work.
"Poor thing, poor thing," she kept on muttering. "She do look pale, don't she? You'd think she was dead to look at her—you would indeed."
"My God! Get some brandy!" said I, "while I telephone for a doctor."
"My goodness, sir, don't go to the expense of a doctor, she'll be all right in a minute or two. It's only a little weakness. I have 'em myself sometimes in the summer when it's hot in the kitchen. It passes off if I sit down a bit."
"Get that brandy," I repeated, and I rang up my friend Perowne.
"Will the cooking brandy do, sir?" she asked, as she went to the door.
"Cooking! Good Lord, no! Liqueur!"
By good fortune Perowne was in and promised to be with me at once. Then I turned to Clarissa. Much against her will, Mrs. Bullwell had gone for the best brandy and we were alone. I leant down my head to listen for her breathing. It was so faintly audible that I had to hold my own that I might hear it. And then, as I bent still lower, my cheek touched her lips. They were so cold; yet they set the blood racing hot in me. I rose quickly from my knees and walked to the open window. That must have been what a young man feels when first he is kissed by the first woman he loves. Events had passed so quickly with me in the last half-hour. I had been so near to one great adventure and now was near to the greatest adventure of all. It left the pulses beating in my forehead, my throat dry and every muscle in my body vibrating.
No doubt it was well that Mrs. Bullwell should come in at that moment with the brandy. It gave me something else to think about. We put the glass to her lips, but she made no effort to swallow. The brandy trickled down her chin and fell in drops upon her dress.