“And the visitor?”

“He was gone, sir. He had vanished.”

“What did you do then?”

“We raised up the count: we carried him up stairs and laid him on his bed. Then we brought mistress round again; and the valet went in haste to fetch Dr. Seignebos.”

“What said the countess when she recovered her consciousness?”

“Nothing. Mistress looked like a person who has been knocked in the head.”

“Was there any thing else?”

“Oh, yes, sir!”

“What?”

“The oldest of the young ladies, Miss Martha, was seized with terrible convulsions.”