"The cold air from the hall."
"A careful nurse, you are!"
"I am not careful."
"No?"
He teased me, this man. I hate to be teased. And all this time, whilst he stood questioning me, Miss Axtell was in that lone, silent room, confessing to the dead. It was worse than the tower-confessional; and besides, what had she done that was so bad? Nothing, I felt convinced. Why would she do such a thing?
I think I must have spoken the last thought; for Mr. Axtell answered it in his next words.
"Lettie is only working out a necessity of her own spirit. She is not harming any living soul. I cannot see why you should look so white and terrified about it. Have you tasted the coffee?"
I had not thought of it: I told him so.
"Did you give my sister what the doctor left for her?"
Honestly, I had forgotten that the powders were to be given every half-hour, and I had offered only one.