Shortly after this the professional nurse arrived, but she was told she would not be wanted in the sick-room as a watcher--not for the present at least, and that she might rest below until need arose for her upstairs.
It was four o'clock when Dr. Fernbeck came again. This time he was accompanied by Dr. Oliver Rowland. The two medical men spent half-an hour in the sick-room, and then came down, saying that, as Sir Francis Granby had seen the patient in his former illness, it could do no harm if he saw him now in this. Dr. Rowland would remain in attendance while Dr. Fernbeck went to fetch Sir Frederick, and a cabman was sent for Mr. Macklin, of the firm of Macklin and Dowell, solicitors to the patient, as the latter had some business matters of importance to communicate to Mr. Macklin.
It was judged best that, until Sir Francis had seen the sufferer, Miss Durrant should not visit him. It was more than likely Sir Francis would not be there for an hour, and Dr. Rowland suggested that Miss Durrant should take some refreshment, a glass of wine and a biscuit, and lie down and try and sleep. Dr. Rowland promised to call her when the great doctor had seen the injured man.
And May, being half distracted and quite weak, ate a biscuit and drank a glass of wine, and lay down as she had been bid. In a few minutes she was asleep. She was exhausted, and she slept profoundly, dreamlessly, for hours. When she woke up the west was all aglow. With a pang of grief that she had allowed herself to sleep so long, and a feeling of indignation against Dr. Rowland, who had promised to wake her when Sir Francis Granby was gone, she rose and went out on the narrow landing, at the farther end of which was the room in which he lay.
Just at that moment the door of the sick-room opened, and three men descended the stairs and went into the little drawing-room, which had in the morning been used a consulting-room by the two doctors. She remained standing on the landing until she heard the drawing-room door open, and then the front door, and finally a carriage drive away. Then she ran down.
She met Dr. Rowland in the hall, and said eagerly:
"Well?"
"Sir Francis Granby has just left," said Rowland gravely. "Doctor Fernbeck could not get him until now. He was out of town. This will explain why I did not call you."
"Yes, yes. But what does he--what do you all think?"
"That the case is serious, very serious."