The Impending Sword: A Novel (Vol. 3 of 3)Yates, Edmund
General
The Impending Sword: A Novel (Vol. 3 of 3)
Yates, Edmund
Fiction
Miss Montressor rang at the bell very gently, and, after a slight
delay, was admitted by a servant whom she had not seen before, and
who, therefore, could not identify her with the visitor to Mrs.
Jenkins of a previous occasion, but who had no difficulty in
discovering that he was addressing the celebrated actress, curiosity
concerning whom even present circumstances had not been able
thoroughly to repress among the household. Miss Montressor had had no
fixed purpose in her mind beyond making an inquiry for Mrs. Griswold,
but when she had done so, had been assured that 'she was wonderfully
well, considering,' the man, with a thoughtful regard for the feelings
of his fellow servants who had not the chance of opening the door to
Miss Montressor, suggested that perhaps that lady would like to see
the nurse, who could give her full particulars of Mrs. Griswold's
state.
Miss Montressor thought she would very much like to see the nurse. The
man then showed her into the dining-room, and went joyfully to inform
Mrs. Jenkins of the great chance that had turned up for her.
Mrs. Jenkins glanced into Helen's room, where she was still sleeping
heavily under the influence of the opiate, and laying the child, who
had dozed off so soundly asleep, by the mother's side, where she must
touch her on awakening, went softly down the stairs to meet her
sister.
There was no longer any disguise or concealment in the household; the
nature of the accident to their master, at which Thornton Carey had
dimly hinted when he entreated their care and caution of observing
Mrs. Griswold, was now fully known and incessantly discussed among the
servants, who had become in some mysterious way thoroughly acquainted
with the facts revealed by Bryan Duval and Miss Montressor to their
mistress on the preceding day.
Their horror and regret were extreme. Alston Griswold had the good
will and good word of all who held a dependent position with regard to
him, and it never occurred to them, as it would have done to English
people under similar circumstances, to discern anything sinister in
his change of name. If he had called himself Foster instead of
Griswold, it was because he had good reasons for it; every one knew
how sharp was the practice in his line of business. The newspapers
containing accounts of the murder at Liverpool, had been eagerly
looked up and read all over again, now that the details had gained
additional and ghastly importance, for the members of the Griswolds'
household and Mrs. Jenkins had been made thoroughly familiar with all
the particulars, extending to Thornton Carey's commission to Jim with
regard to the speedy delivery of the telegram. On only two points she
had not been informed, for the good and sufficient reason that they
had not come to the knowledge of Jim himself. One of these points was
the name of the person to whom the telegram had been despatched, the
other was the place from whence the answer was expected.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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