His face, as he turned it over his shoulder to address the clerk, had changed colour; he was indeed really pale. He held his fingers on the great sheet of blue blotting-paper, to which he pointed, unsteadily.
"Upon my soul, sir," said Jason, flushing and then paling in his turn. "That is a queer thing! May I show it to Mr. Drayton?"
The inspector stepped forward, as the broker nodded; and examined the blotting-paper attentively.
"It is written over," he said in a professional tone, "from end to end. I see that. It is written with one name. It is the name of"—
"Helen!" interrupted the broker.
"Yes," replied the inspector. "Yes, it is: Helen; distinctly, Helen. Someone must have"—
But I stayed to hear no more. What some one must have done, I sprang and left the live men to decide—as live men do decide such things—among themselves. I sprang, and crying: "Helen! Helen! Helen!" with one bound I brushed them by, and fled the room, and reached the outer air and sought for her.
As nearly as one can characterize the emotion of such a moment I should say that it was one of mortal intensity; perhaps of what in living men we should call maniac intensity. Up to this moment I could not be said to have comprehended the effect of what had taken place upon my wife.
The full force of her terrible position now struck me like the edge of a weapon with whose sheath I had been idling.
Hot in the flame of my anger I had gone from her; and cold indeed had I returned. Her I had left dumb before my cruel tongue, but dumb was that which had come back to her in my name.