"I don't know, ma'am. James said he went out at half-past six with his bag, complaining you had sent him away."
"James should have stopped him, or have told me."
"So he says, ma'am, now."
"When it is too late," said the angry Miss Berengaria. "Alice, come with me. Conniston, you can wait here with Miss Randolph," and before the couple could say a word, the old lady hurried out of the room, followed by Alice. Both were oppressed by a sense of anxiety.
Michael was very ill and in great pain. Sitting up in bed, he was pressing both hands to his stomach and moaning. "Oh, give me water—water," he entreated, when the women appeared. "I am dying of thirst."
While Miss Berengaria gave him drink, Alice looked into the tea-cup, which still stood on the table beside the bed. At the bottom there was a white sediment. "Something has been given to you in your tea," she said, turning pale.
"It was some time after drinking the tea that I felt ill," moaned Michael, rocking to and fro. "Oh, how I suffer."
"Jerry brought the tea," began Miss Plantagenet, when Michael interrupted her with a scream.
"Jerry! Jerry! It's Beryl's work. Jerry did anything he told him. I believe he has poisoned me. Call him up—call him up."
"Jerry has gone away," said Miss Berengaria, very pale.