She took another sudden resolution: drew the two men away and into the dining-room end. ‘Do you think we’re wise, after all, to let her go straight back to the hospital? Would it be better to keep her here for the night? I could ring up and make it all right with Matron: tell her some tarradiddle. In the morning the girl will be more rational, we can talk sense to her. Don’t you think that for her to arrive back, late at night, in triumph, having made a lovely scene at Dr. Harrison’s house, would be a mistake? Yank her back in the cold, clear light of morning and let Matron have her on the carpet. Meanwhile, I’ll make up the bed in the spare room and we can let her sleep off the whole affair.’
‘I believe you may be right,’ said Frederick. ‘Only in that case it’s a pity we gave her the black coffee.’ He glanced over towards the sofa. ‘She seems to be considerably woken-up already.’ (These must be the first signs, the restless, voluble symptoms before the coma set in. Time was growing very short.)
Ricky glanced for the hundredth time at his watch. ‘I simply must go. Yes, I think this is best, Stella. Everything looks clearer by daylight and I’ll go to Matron myself and sort it out with her. She’s a good soul!’ He turned back to the lolling figure on the sofa. ‘Look here, my wife thinks you’d better stay here for the night and then we can talk things over in the morning, more calmly. It’s a pity you had the coffee but I’ll give you something to counteract that and you can have a good sleep; then you’ll feel better.’ He gave her no time to argue but went through to the surgery and returned with half a dozen small white pills. ‘Give her these, Stella, with a drop of warm milk.’ He rolled them out of his cupped hand on to the high mantelpiece.
‘Six?’ said Frederick, looking at them a bit doubtfully.
‘It’s only that Restuwell stuff; they’re quite mild and she’s had all that coffee. Now I must rush.’ He gave not a backward glance at the girl but hurried off out of the door. They heard the car engine purr into life outside.
‘They’ll think it very peculiar, won’t they?’ said the cool, sweet voice from the sofa ‘—you keeping me here for the night. I suppose they’ll think Mrs. Harrison didn’t want it to come out about my trying to commit suicide because I was having a baby by her husband: and they gave me antidotes and things and kept me here till I was all right again.’
‘An impression you would do nothing to correct, would you?’ said Frederick, savagely sardonic.
‘Of course not,’ said Ann Kelly: smiling her little smile.
Stella’s self-control fell away from her, suddenly, as though her clothes had ripped apart and fallen, leaving her naked. ‘You utter little bitch! You vile, filthy, lying, blackmailing utter little bitch!’ She stood over the girl, dreadfully shaking, one hand clenched as though she would hit out at her. Frederick caught her shoulder and pulled her away and she collapsed against him, lying convulsed with great, shuddering sobs, against his breast. ‘Oh, Frederick! Oh, God, Frederick, it’s all so vile, so terrifying, so horrible….’ Vile and terrifying and horrible to have this cool, smiling, taunting little face lifted to hers like an evil white flower; to know that soon it would smile its sneering little smile no more….To be unmoved by that knowledge; to know oneself suddenly not human any longer, not capable of ordinary human pity or remorse….
Frederick held her close, strong, reassuring, kind. ‘Hush, my dear, hush, don’t upset yourself, don’t let it get you down. You’ve been marvellous, love, you’ve handled the whole thing perfectly, and you’ll see, it’ll all be all right in the morning.’ He held her away from him, pulled out a handkerchief, dabbed at her livid, tear-stained face. ‘Come on, dry up those lovely blue eyes of yours; it isn’t as bad as all that.’
She leaned her head for a moment, just for a moment, against that firm, kind shoulder; revelling uncontrollably in her first physical contact with him, drowned for a moment in the first revelation of his tenderness. ‘Oh, Frederick—!’
‘Oh, Frederick….!’ mimicked the soft little, sneering voice.
They moved apart sharply, as though a sword had been cleft between them. Stella cast one venomous glance at the sofa and went out of the room. ‘I’ll ring Matron.’
Matron seemed only mildly surprised to learn that Nurse Kelly was at Dr. Harrison’s house. ‘Has there been any drama at the hospital, Matron? She says she left a note saying she’d taken some morphia—’