The electric current of devotion which had been flowing from this lady seemed to flicker and die away.
The awful story was ended at last.
Then with a face in which the horror came out in waves, inexpressibly terrible to see, with each beat of the pulses a wave of unutterable horror, she slowly rose.
Her arms fell heavily to her sides, all her motions became automatic, jerky.
Slowly, slowly, she turned.
Her feet made no noise as she moved over the room. Her garments did not rustle. But she walked, not as an elderly woman, but a very old woman.
The door clicked softly. He was left alone in the comfortable room.
Alone.
He stood up, tottered a few steps in the direction she had gone, and then, with a resounding crash which shook the furniture in a succession of quick rattles, his great form fell prone upon the floor.
He lay there, head downwards, with the sunshine pouring on him, still and without any reactionary movement.