Claire stumbled to her feet, and stood swaying against the table.
“You are a wicked woman! How dare you lie about me and Dr. Elliott? I shall not stay under the same roof with you for another night!” She moved blindly forward towards the corridor. Alexis pursued her.
“Where are you going? What are you going to do?”
She turned upon him like a hounded creature. “Let me alone, I am going to pack,” she cried at bay. “I am going to pack,” she repeated wildly. She stumbled down the corridor towards her room.
Mme. Petrovskey reseated herself. “Running away is hardly the action of an innocent woman!” she remarked.
“Be silent!” exclaimed Elliott sternly. But he was too late for Claire had heard.
“Oh!” With a gasping cry she faced them. Then crashed forward like a felled tree.
“You have killed her!” Alexis ran down the corridor, and knelt beside the small, prostrate figure. He was about to lift it in his arms when the doctor interfered.
“Put her down on her back. Here, let me do it.” He shifted Claire expertly. “Don’t you know that a fainting patient must never be lifted? It sometimes kills them, especially in her condition.”
“In her condition?” Alexis looked up from rubbing Claire’s hands. “What do you mean? Is her heart affected?”