I could not tell him it was because I had heard other women, many women, who were all things to all men, and that I despised, or perhaps envied them, lacking their gift and so having lived lonely save for Ella and Ella’s love. Until now, when it was too late. And then I looked at him, at Dr. Kennedy, and laughed.
“Why do you laugh? You are so like and so unlike her. She would laugh for nothing, cry for nothing....”
“Tell me all about her from the beginning.” It was an excuse to rest on the cushions in the easy-chair, to cease whipping my tired conscience.
“There is little or nothing to tell. It was about a week after she came here we had the first call. Urgent, the message said. So I got on my bicycle and spun away up here. I did not even wait to get out the car.”
“What day of the week was it?” I asked, interrupting him.
“What day of the week?” he repeated in surprise.
“Yes, what day?”
“As a matter of fact it was on a Monday. What’s the point? I remember because it happens to have been my Infirmary day. I had just come home, dog-tired, but of course when the call came I had to go. I actually thought what a bore it was as I pedalled up. It’s nearly all uphill from our house to Carbies. The maid looked frightened when she opened the door.”
“Oh, sir, I am so glad you are here. Will you please come into the drawing-room? Mrs. Capel, she fainted right away. Miss Stevens has tried hartshorn an’ burnt feathers, everything we could think of.”
“Everything that had a smell?”