He turned to obey, but paused to ask:
"Isn't there anything I can do first, ma'am?"
"No, go! Go!" she fluttered.
"Sha'n't I send some one else while I am gone, ma'am?"
"No, no; keep them all away, all of them, till I ring."
Roake, with a face like ashes, still waited, staring.
"But, ma'am, you are hurt! You are bleeding!"
"Nonsense!" she stormed. "I spilled some claret on my fan. The doctor! Will you never go?" And he ran out through the jumble of servants, ordering them back to their stations.
And then Nichette came stumbling through the golden portal. She had heard the cry above, and had understood the pain and terror in it, and had run pell-mell down the great stairs, her hand whistling on the marble balustrade.
She paused now, clinging to one of the red curtains, and stammering: