He made a gesture of the hands that seemed to indicate infinite
possibilities. "I do not think at present. But I must be
undisturbed. Go to your room, madam, and rest! Your husband will
come to you later and tell you what I have done--or failed to do."
He spoke with absolute fluency but with a foreign accent. His
hands were busy with the bandages, dexterous, clawlike hands that
looked as if they were delving for treasure.
She watched him, speechless and fascinated, for a few seconds.
Then Burke set the lamp upon the chair against which she had leaned
all the night, and bent down to her.
"Let me help you!" he said.
A shuddering horror of the sight before her came upon her. She
yielded herself to him in silence. She was shivering violently
from head to foot. Her limbs were so numb she could not stand. He
raised her and drew her away.
The next thing she knew was that she was sitting on the bed in her
own room, and he was making her drink brandy and water in so
burning a mixture that it stung her throat.
She tried to protest, but he would take no refusal till she had
swallowed what he had poured out. Then he put down the glass,
tucked her feet up on the bed with an air of mastery, and spread a
rug over her.
He would have left her then with a brief injunction to remain where
she was, but she caught and held his arm so that he was obliged to
pause.
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