Hardly had she begun to breathe regularly, and the weary watchers about her bed to hope that the worst was over, when the great clock in the hall below struck the hour of midnight.
At the last stroke the door of the sick-room swung softly open, and Geoffrey’s face, pale, haggard, and anxious, appeared in the aperture.
It required a mighty effort on the part of Mr. and Mrs. Huntress to refrain from uttering an exclamation of joy at sight of him.
But the doctor held up a warning finger. Mrs. Huntress, who had half started from her chair, sank back to her post beside Gladys’ pillow, while her husband, with a look of intense relief, stole quietly from the room.
We must now go back to the hour when the wedding party started from the house for the church.
Geoffrey, as has been stated, left a little in advance of the others, as he desired a few moments’ interview with the clergyman before the ceremony.
Not a thought of foul play entered his mind as he drove away, neither had he a suspicion that a different carriage had been substituted for the one he had ordered, that having been suddenly and cunningly sent off to the station for an imaginary arrival on the evening express.
He was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he did not even observe the route the driver was taking, until he suddenly noticed that the speed of the horses had greatly increased and he was rolling along at a remarkable rate through quiet and almost deserted streets.
It was quite dark, but the street-lamps gave light enough to show him that he was a long distance from the place where he wanted to go.
He tried to lower the window beside him.