“Sit down; control yourself,” he said. “I have bad news. I analyzed the medicine. I found hyocene in it.”
Mrs. Pelham had a dim feeling that the curtain was going to be lifted from something awful; the room seemed to go round. She raised her hand and passed it across her brows.
“I cannot see,” she cried. “The room is very hot.”
“I will open the window wider; take this chair. You will understand what I have told you in a moment.”
She did not speak, but, sinking back into the chair, closed her eyes. Tarbot flung the window wide open, poured out a glass of water and brought it to her.
“You will recover in a moment,” he said. “I knew it would be a terrible shock, and I felt that it was best for you to see me here and alone.”
“Tell me again,” she said after a moment. “There was in that medicine—what?”
“But who put it there, Luke; who put it there?”
“Mrs. Pelham, that is the question which in my opinion the law must decide. One thing at least is clear—the man who gave the boy his first and last dose out of that bottle was Richard Pelham.”
“No,” said the widow. She clasped her hands before her face. “Impossible!” she cried. “You cannot mean it. Dick! Dick give poison to my boy! No, no!”
“It is true,” said Tarbot. “You must nerve yourself to meet the truth. The boy has to be avenged. I can stand the secret no longer—I had to tell you. Sir Richard Pelham gave him the dose.”
After an hour of earnest whispered conversation Mrs. Pelham rose.
“I cannot return to the Towers,” she said.
“Why not? Your absence will look strange.”
“I cannot help it. It is impossible for me to face either Barbara or Dick. I shall go to London with you.”
Tarbot considered for a moment. It had not occurred to him that Mrs. Pelham would do this, but after a little thought he considered it a wise step.
“Very well,” he said. “I am not greatly surprised; but what about your things?”
“I will send a note to my maid. She will pack them and follow me this evening. I will go to town with you, Dr. Tarbot. When does the next train start?”
Tarbot sent for a time-table. The next train would leave Haversham within an hour.
“You must have some lunch before you start, and then we will drive over to the station,” he said.
Mrs. Pelham bowed her head in acquiescence. Her face looked gray and her eyes strained, and there was a tense expression about her lips as though she were keeping her self-control with a mighty effort.