Stella allowed herself to be led away to her mother's room, and she obediently swallowed the dose poured out for her, but she would not go to her own room. She sat down in a chair on the landing, and gritted her chattering teeth together.
Dr Fielding had come home to lunch, and within five minutes he was at the Poplars, following Guy upstairs to Miss Matthews' room. Mrs Matthews was standing at the foot of the bed, and greeted him with composure, but in a hushed voice. “I think my sister-in-law must have had a stroke, doctor. I haven't tried to do anything for her, as I thought it would be wiser to wait until you came. I have thought for some little while that she wasn't quite herself, but of course I never dreamed of anything like this happening. Poor Harriet! I'm afraid my brother-in-law's death was —”
Dr Fielding straightened himself. “Mrs Matthews, your sister-in-law is dead,” he said harshly. “She has been dead for as much as two hours, I should say. Why was I not called in before?”
“Dead!” Mrs Matthews repeated, and bowed her head slightly, covering her eyes with one hand.
Guy said: “We'd no idea! How could we have had? She said she felt seedy. We thought she'd eaten something that had disagreed with her. I tell you, there didn't seem to be anything the matter with her, did there, mother?”
“Nothing,” Mrs Matthews said in a low voice. “A trifle bilious. I gave her some of my own medicine, and put her to bed. She just wanted to be quiet.”
“What did she complain of?” Fielding asked.
“Nothing that could lead one to suppose—”She said she lilt giddy, and that her head ached.”
“Any sickness?”
“She had a slight feeling of sickness, which was why I gave her my medicine. It is an excellent prescription —”