And then she was aware of a certain grim humor in the situation. Her would-be defiler was her legal husband!
She walked up and down the hall until she heard a car racing up the avenue. She unbarred and unlocked the door. As she opened it Dr. Pelham and Elsie sprang out of the car and ran up the steps.
“I’ve shot Eustace,” she announced briefly. “Thought he was a burglar. He’s in the library.”
Dr. Pelham, bag in hand, went swiftly down the hall without a look at Gita. He was a surgeon on his way to a serious case, nothing more.
Elsie grasped Gita’s hand and stared at her. Her face was white and quivering.
“I did,” said Gita defiantly. “Couldn’t see who it was in the dark. Didn’t expect him till Friday.” Never would she breathe a word of that horrible scene to anyone.
Hand in hand the girls walked reluctantly to the library. Dr. Pelham had cut out the arm of Bylant’s coat and shirt and was packing the wound with sterilized gauze.
“Is he dead?” gasped Elsie.
“No. Wounded in the shoulder, luckily. Is there a strong man about the place? We must get him upstairs to his room. Elsie, telephone for a nurse.”