“ ‘Go and save him!’ she gasped, her voice choking with sobs, which were almost hysterical.
“A lady who happened to be staying in the house came and drew the girl away into one of the sitting-rooms, and I went upstairs. I found Heathcote in his own room. He was lying on the bed—he was a ghastly sight. His face wore the sick hue of death itself; the sheet, his hair, and even his face were all covered with blood. His wife was standing over him, wiping away the blood, which oozed from his lips. I saw, of course, immediately what was the matter. Hemoptysis had set in, and I felt that his hours were numbered.
“ ‘He has broken a blood vessel,’ exclaimed Mrs. Heathcote. ‘He was standing here, preparing to go down to dinner, when he coughed violently—the blood began to pour from his mouth; I got him on the bed and sent for you. The hemorrhage seems to be a little less violent now.’
“I examined my patient carefully, feeling his pulse, which was very weak and low; I cautioned him not to speak a single word, and asked Mrs. Heathcote to send for some ice immediately. She did so. I packed him in ice and gave him a dose of ergotine. He seemed easier, and I left him, promising to return again in an hour or two. Miss Gabrielle met me in the hall as I went out.
“ ‘Is he any better? Is there any hope at all?’ she asked, as I left the house.
“ ‘Your father is easier now,’ I replied; ‘the hemorrhage has been arrested. I am coming back soon. You must be a good girl and try to comfort your mother in every way in your power.’
“ ‘Then there is no hope?’ she answered, looking me full in the face.
“I could not truthfully say that there was. I knew poor Heathcote’s days were numbered, although I scarcely thought the end would come so quickly.”
“What do you mean?” I inquired.
“Why this,” he replied. “Less than an hour after I got home, I received a brief note from Mrs. Heathcote. In it she stated that fresh and very violent hemorrhage had set in almost immediately after I left, and that her husband was dead.”
“And——” I continued.
“Well, that is the story. Poor Heathcote had died of hemoptysis.”
“Did you see the body after death?” I inquired, after a pause.
“No—it was absolutely unnecessary—the cause of death was so evident. I attended the funeral, though. Heathcote was buried at Kensal Green.”
I made no comment for a moment or two.
“I am sorry you did not see the body after death,” I said, after a pause.
My remark seemed to irritate Mackenzie. He looked at me with raised brows.
“Would you have thought it necessary to do so?” he asked. “A man known to be consumptive dies of violent hemorrhage of the lungs. The family are in great trouble—there is much besides to think of. Would you under the circumstances have considered it necessary to refuse to give a certificate without seeing the body?”
I thought for a moment.
“I make a rule of always seeing the body,” I replied; “but, of course, you were justified, as the law stands. Well, then, there is no doubt Heathcote is really dead?”
“Really dead?” retorted Mackenzie. “Don’t you understand that he has been in his grave for six months?—That I practically saw him die?—That I attended his funeral? By what possible chance can the man be alive?”
“None,” I replied. “He is dead, of course. I am sorry for the poor girl. She ought to leave home immediately.”
“Girls of her age often have delusions,” said Mackenzie. “I doubt not this will pass in time. I am surprised, however, that the Heathcotes allowed the thing to go on so long. I remember now that I have never been near the house since the funeral. I cannot understand their not calling me in.”
“That fact puzzles me also,” I said. “They came to me, a total stranger, instead of consulting their family physician, and Mrs. Heathcote carefully concealed the most important part of her daughter’s malady. It is strange altogether; and, although I can give no explanation whatever, I am convinced there is one if we could only get at it. One more question before I go, Mackenzie. You spoke of Heathcote as a solicitor: has he left his family well off?”
“They are not rich,” replied Mackenzie; “but as far as I can tell, they don’t seem to want for money. I believe their house, Ivy Hall is its name, belongs to them. They live there very quietly, with a couple of maid-servants. I should say they belonged to the well-to-do middle classes.”
“Then money troubles cannot explain the mystery?” I replied.
“Believe me, there is no mystery,” answered Mackenzie, in an annoyed voice.
I held out my hand to wish him good-bye, when a loud peal at the front door startled us both. If ever there was frantic haste in anything, there was in that ringing peal.
“Someone wants you in a hurry,” I said to the doctor.
He was about to reply, when the door of the consulting-room was flung wide open, and Gabrielle Heathcote rushed into the room.
“Mother is very ill,” she exclaimed. “I think she is out of her mind. Come to her at once.”
She took Mackenzie’s hand in hers.
“There isn’t a minute to lose,” she said, “she may kill herself. She came to me with a carving-knife in her hand; I rushed away at once for you. The two servants are with her now, and they are doing all they can; but, oh! pray, do be quick.”
At this moment Gabrielle’s eyes rested on me. A look of relief and almost ecstasy passed over her poor, thin little face.
“You are here!” she exclaimed. “You will come, too? Oh, how glad I am.”
“If Dr. Mackenzie will permit me,” I replied, “I shall be only too pleased to accompany him.”
“By all means come, you may be of the greatest use,” he answered.
We started at once. As soon as we left the house Gabrielle rushed from us.
“I am going to have the front door open for you both when you arrive,” she exclaimed. She disappeared as if on the wings of the wind.
“That is a good girl,” I said, turning to the other doctor.
“She has always been deeply attached to both her parents,” he answered.
We did not either of us say another word until we got to Ivy Hall. It was a rambling old house, with numerous low rooms and a big entrance-hall. I could fancy that in the summer it was cheerful enough, with its large, walled-in garden. The night was a dark one, but there would be a moon presently.
Gabrielle was waiting in the hall to receive us.
“I will take you to the door of mother’s room,” she exclaimed.
Her words came out tremblingly, her face was like death. She was shaking all over. She ran up the stairs before us, and then down a long passage which led to a room a little apart from the rest of the house.
“I told you mother wished to sleep in a room as far away from me as possible,” she said, flashing a glance into my face as she spoke.
I nodded in reply. We opened the door and went in. The sight which met our eyes was one with which most medical men are familiar.
The patient was lying on the bed in a state of violent delirium. Two maid-servants were bending over her, and evidently much exciting her feelings in their efforts to hold her down. I spoke at once with authority.
“You can leave the room now,” I said—“only remain within call in case you are wanted.”
They obeyed instantly, looking at me with surprised glances, and at Mackenzie with manifest relief.
I shut the door after them and approached the bed. One glance showed that Mrs. Heathcote was not mad in the ordinary sense, but that she was suffering at the moment from acute delirium. I put my hand on her forehead: it burned with fever. Her pulse was rapid and uneven. Mackenzie took her temperature, which was very nearly a hundred and four degrees. While we were examining her she remained quiet, but presently
, as we stood together and watched her, she began to rave again.
“What is it, Gabrielle? No, no, he is quite dead, child. I tell you I saw the men screw his coffin down. He’s dead—quite dead. Oh, God! oh, God! yes, dead, dead!”
She sat up in bed and stared straight before her.
“You mustn’t come here so often,” she said, looking past us into the centre of the room, and addressing someone whom she seemed to see with distinctness, “I tell you it isn’t safe. Gabrielle suspects. Don’t come so often—I’ll manage some other way. Trust me. Do trust me. You know I won’t let you starve. Oh, go away, go away.”
She flung herself back on the bed and pressed her hands frantically to her burning eyes.
“Your father has been dead six months now, Gabrielle,” she said, presently, in a changed voice.
“No one was ever more dead. I tell you I saw him die; he was buried, and you went to his funeral.” Here again her voice altered. She sat upright and motioned with her hand. “Will you bring the coffin in here, please, into this room? Yes; it seems a nice coffin—well finished. The coffin is made of oak. That is right. Oak lasts. I can’t bear coffins that crumble away very quickly. This is a good one—you have taken pains with it—I am pleased. Lay him in gently. He is not very heavy, is he? You see how worn he is. Consumption!—yes, consumption. He had been a long time dying, but at the end it was sudden. Hemorrhage of the lungs. We did it to save Gabrielle, and to keep away—what, what, what did we want to keep away?—Oh, yes, dishonour! The—the——” Here she burst into a loud laugh.
“You don’t suppose, you undertaker’s men, that I’m going to tell you what we did it for? Dr. Mackenzie was there—he saw him just at the end. Now you have placed him nicely in his coffin, and you can go. Thank you, you can go now. I don’t want you to see his face. A dead face is too sacred. You must not look on it. He is peaceful, only pale, very pale. All dead people look pale. Is he as pale as most dead people? Oh, I forgot—you can’t see him. And as cold? Oh, yes, I think so, quite. You want to screw the coffin down, of course, of course—I was forgetting. Now, be quick about it. Why, do you know, I was very nearly having him buried with the coffin open! Screw away now, screw away. Ah, how that noise grates on my nerves. I shall go mad if you are not quick. Do be quick—be quick, and leave me alone with my dead. Oh, God, with my dead, my dead!”
The wretched woman’s voice sank to a hoarse whisper. She struggled on to her knees, and folding her hands, began to pray.
“God in Heaven have mercy upon me and upon my dead,” she moaned. “Now, now, now! where’s the screwdriver? Oh, heavens, it’s lost, it’s lost! We are undone! My God, what is the matter with me? My brain reels. Oh, my God, my God!”
She moaned fearfully. We laid her back on the bed. Her mutterings became more rapid and indistinct. Presently she slept.
“She must not be left in this condition,” said Mackenzie to me. “It would be very bad for Gabrielle to be with her mother now. And those young servants are not to be trusted. I will go and send in a nurse as soon as possible. Can you do me the inestimable favour of remaining here until a nurse arrives?”
“I was going to propose that I should, in any case, spend the night here,” I replied.
“That is more than good of you,” said the doctor.
“Not at all,” I answered; “the case interests me extremely.”
A moment or two later Mackenzie left the house. During his absence Mrs. Heathcote slept, and I sat and watched her. The fever raged very high—she muttered constantly in her terrible dreams, but said nothing coherent. I felt very anxious about her. She had evidently been subjected to a most frightful strain, and now all her nature was giving way. I dared not think what her words implied. My mission was at present to do what I could for her relief.
The nurse arrived about midnight. She was a sensible, middle-aged woman, very strong too, and evidently accustomed to fever patients. I gave her some directions, desired her to ring a certain bell if she required my assistance, and left the room. As I went slowly downstairs I noticed the moon had risen. The house was perfectly still—the sick woman’s moans could not be heard beyond the distant wing of the house where she slept. As I went downstairs I remembered Gabrielle’s story about the moonlit garden and her father’s figure standing there. I felt a momentary curiosity to see what the garden was like, and, moving aside a blind, which concealed one of the lobby windows, looked out. I gave one hurried glance and started back. Was I, too, the victim of illusion? Standing in the garden was the tall figure of a man with folded arms. He was looking away from me, but the light fell on his face: it was cadaverous and ghastly white; his hat was off; he moved into a deep shadow. It was all done in an instant—he came and went like a flash.
I pursued my way softly downstairs. This man’s appearance seemed exactly to coincide with Mackenzie’s description of Heathcote; but was it possible, in any of the wonderful possibilities of this earth, that a man could rise from his coffin and walk the earth again?
Gabrielle was waiting for me in the cheerful drawing-room. A bright fire burned in the grate, there were candles on brackets, and one or two shaded lamps placed on small tables. On one table, a little larger than the rest, a white cloth was spread. It also contained a tray with glasses, some claret and sherry in decanters, and a plate of sandwiches.
“You must be tired,” said Gabrielle. “Please have a glass of wine, and please eat something. I know those sandwiches are good—I made them myself.”
She pressed me to eat and drink. In truth, I needed refreshment. The scene in the sick room had told even on my iron nerves, and the sight from the lobby window had almost taken my breath away.
Gabrielle attended on me as if she were my daughter. I was touched by her solicitude, and by the really noble way in which she tried to put self out of sight. At last she said, in a voice which shook with emotion:—
“I know, Dr. Halifax, that you think badly of mother.”
“Your mother is very ill indeed,” I answered.
“It is good of you to come and help her. You are a great doctor, are you not?”
I smiled at the child’s question.
“I want you to tell me something about the beginning of your mother’s illness,” I said, after a pause. “When I saw her two days ago, she scarcely considered herself ill at all—in fact, you were supposed to be the patient.”
Gabrielle dropped into the nearest chair.
“There is a mystery somewhere,” she said, “but I cannot make it out. When I came back, after seeing you to-day, mother seemed very restless and troubled. I thought she would have questioned me about being so long away, and ask me at least what I had done with myself. Instead of that, she asked me to tread softly. She said she had such an intolerable headache that she could not endure the least sound. I saw she had been out, for she had her walking boots on, and they were covered with mud. I tried to coax her to eat something, but she would not, and as I saw she really wished to be alone, I left her.
“At tea time, our parlour-maid, Peters, told me that mother had gone to bed and had given directions that she was on no account to be disturbed. I had tea alone, and then came in here and made the place as bright and comfortable as I could. Once or twice before, since my father’s death, mother has suffered from acute headaches, and has gone to bed; but when they got better, she has dressed and come downstairs again. I thought she might like to do so to-night, and that she would be pleased to see a bright room and everything cheerful about her.
“I got a story-book and tried to read, but my thoughts were with mother, and I felt dreadfully puzzled and anxious. The time seemed very long too, and I heartily wished that the night were over. I went upstairs about eight o’clock, and listened outside mother’s door. She was moaning and talking to herself. It seemed to me that she was saying dreadful things. I quite shuddered as I listened. I knocked at the door, but ther
e was no answer. Then I turned the handle and tried to enter, but the door was locked. I went downstairs again, and Peters came to ask me if I would like supper. She was still in the room, and I had not made up my mind whether I could eat anything or not, when I heard her give a short scream, and turning round, I saw mother standing in the room in her nightdress. She had the carving-knife in her hand.
“ ‘Gabrielle,’ she said, in a quiet voice, but with an awful look in her eyes, ‘I want you to tell me the truth. Is there any blood on my hands?’
“ ‘No, no, mother,’ I answered.
“She gave a deep sigh, and looked at them as if she were Lady Macbeth.
“ ‘Gabrielle,’ she said again, ‘I can’t live any longer without your father. I have made this knife sharp, and it won’t take long.’
“Then she turned and left the room. Peters ran for cook, and they went upstairs after her, and I rushed for Dr. Mackenzie.”
“It was a fearful ordeal for you,” I said, “and you behaved very bravely; but you must not think too much about your mother’s condition, nor about any words which she happened to say. She is highly feverish at present, and is not accountable for her actions. Sit down now, please, and take a glass of wine yourself.”
“No, thank you—I never take wine.”
“I’m glad to hear you say so, for in that case a glass of this good claret will do wonders for you. Here, I’m going to pour one out—now drink it off at once.”
She obeyed me with a patient sort of smile. She was very pale, but the wine brought some colour into her cheeks.
“I am interested in your story,” I said, after a pause. “Particularly in what you told me about your poor father. He must have been an interesting man, for you to treasure his memory so deeply. Do you mind describing him to me?”
The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries Page 25
