“I will go with you,” said the earl.
The two gentlemen left the room together, and went up two flights of stairs to the floor on which was the suit of rooms occupied by the Forces.
They paused before the door of the chamber of illness, or it might be of death, and Mr. Force tapped very gently.
It was the nurse, a wholesome-looking, middle-aged woman, who answered the summons.
“I wish to see one of the physicians,” whispered Abel Force, in a voice that trembled with emotion.
The woman stepped noiselessly back into the room, and was presently succeeded by Dr. Bolten, a large, fair, bald-headed man, of about sixty years of age. He stepped out into the passage noiselessly, closing the door behind him. Then, in a whisper, he greeted Mr. Force, with whom he had been acquainted.
“How is my wife?” he inquired, in breathless anxiety.
CHAPTER XIX
THE BITTERNESS OF DEATH
The doctor took the squire’s arm and led him away from the door before he answered:
“She is doing as well as possible under the circumstances. All depends now on absolute quiet. It was for that reason I summoned a trained nurse and forbid any of the family to approach her.”