'He didn't try to commit suicide,' I replied.
'You remember that mark in the arm?'
I nodded.
'In another hour it will be gone. If he had died, it would not be there. I was a blind fool not to have seen it. I examined his arm just before we came in here,—the discolourment has nearly passed away. In an hour there'll be only a little spot about the size of a pin-prick. Do you feel free to tell me anything of your suspicions? Remember, they can only be suspicions. There can be no possible proof of anything, and even although you may have drawn conclusions, which to you are unanswerable, you might be committing the cruellest crime against another man by speaking them aloud.'
'Then I'll not tell you my suspicions,' I said. 'I will only recount certain incidents.'
Then I told him the things I remembered.
Colonel McClure looked very grave.
'No,' he said, at length, 'this is something which we dare not speak of aloud. I must think this out, my boy, so must you, and when our minds are settled a bit we can talk again.'
When we returned to Edgecumbe's room, my friend was sleeping almost naturally, while the relief of every member of the household, who had all been informed of Edgecumbe's remarkable recovery, can be better imagined than expressed.
'Have the doctors told you what is the matter with him?' asked Sir Thomas eagerly.