Then suddenly, Lady Beltham, who had looked on in frenzied distress at all this scene of horror, came forward, a tragic figure, her eyes wide with terror.
“Oh! it is horrible,” she groaned, falling on her knees beside the half-drowned woman’s body, “it is horrible, she tried to save him, to put them off the scent! They have killed an innocent woman! they have killed Elisabeth Dollon!”
CHAPTER XXI
JOY CAN KILL
“You are good and kind, madam.”
“No, no! don’t say that.”
“But you are! you are exquisitely good, exquisitely kind.”
A spasm of pain crossed the Grand Duchess Alexandra’s face, and it was in almost a harsh tone that she protested again:
“You are mistaken. Then, to begin with, the doctor forbids you to talk; you must obey his orders so as to get well, and you know very well you have to get well quickly.”
Moving soundlessly over the thick carpets of the sick-room, the grand duchess stepped up to the bed on which lay the young girl she addressed. With a light, skilful touch she shook up the pillows, re-arranged the bedclothes and settled the patient in the most comfortable position.
“Try to get to sleep, won’t you?”