It was close on one o'clock before the sound of
footsteps in the room above warned him that she was awake and stirring.
He called at once for the maid (whose name he had ascertained to be
Louisa), and sent her upstairs to her mistress for the second time.
Magdalen was standing by her dressing-table when a faint tap at the door
suddenly roused her. The tap was followed by the sound of a meek voice,
which announced itself as the voice of "her maid," and inquired if Miss
Bygrave needed any assistance that morning.
"Not at present," said Magdalen, as soon as she had recovered the
surprise of finding herself unexpectedly provided with an attendant. "I
will ring when I want you."
After dismissing the woman with that answer, she accidentally looked
from the door to the window. Any speculations on the subject of the
new servant in which she might otherwise have engaged were instantly
suspended by the sight of the bottle of laudanum, still standing on the
ledge of the window, where she had left it at sunrise. She took it once
more in her hand, with a strange confusion of feeling--with a vague
doubt even yet, whether the sight of it reminded her of a terrible
reality or a terrible dream.
Pages:
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834