"Is my mother really very ill, Weston?" she demanded.
"It's doubtful," I answered promptly, "whether she will ever be able to leave the house again."
We went up the slope to the platform; it happened that a train arrived immediately. The carriages were crowded, and as we both had to stand up, conversation—fortunately for me—was impossible. The great point was to get her to Gloucester Place, and meet her folk; I felt ready to take any amount of blame and criticism so long as this result was effected. As intervening passengers swayed to and fro, I observed, now and again, the alteration in her appearance. Muriel had lost the petulant, fractious air; in its place was a manner of determination, and self-reliance. A middle-aged man, after thinking the subject over so far as Deptford, rose and asked her to take his place; she answered that he was not to incommode himself. At Greenwich, and on the platform, she took my arm.
"Don't let us talk," she begged. "I want to get there as quickly as possible. She may be asking for me."
A small car was standing outside the door, and, recognising it, I thought perhaps the doctor had called to see the old couple on the ground floor. In the hall stood Captain Winterton and his wife: they were holding hands, and their features shewed acute anxiety. The house was very silent.
"At last," he whispered, relievedly. "She wants you, Miss Weston."
"Who?"
"That," said Muriel, "is surely an unnecessary question." She led the way briskly upstairs.
"We heard a bumping sound overhead," explained Mrs. Winterton to me. "We ran up at once, and found Mrs. Hillier in a faint on the floor. The Captain rushed at once for a medical man."
The doctor was on the landing as I ascended the staircase. He looked grave, but on that I put no great account: it is one of the tricks of some members of the profession to hint at acute difficulties and thus emphasise the credit for overcoming them. He said Mrs. Hillier had probably been attacked by sudden giddiness, and that the fall had stunned her; he was perturbed by the fact that she had not yet regained consciousness.