Читать книгу On the Brink of a Chasm: A record of plot and passion онлайн

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“I told her I did not think it was doing so. It seemed to me that the child’s breathing was becoming slower and slower. I touched his forehead and it was cold. I looked round at the nurse.

“‘Is anything the matter?’ she asked.

“‘I do not like the condition of the child,’ I said. The moment I said so she started up, switched on the light and bent over him.

“‘Go down-stairs and fetch up some more brandy,’ she said.

“I ran down. I did not want to frighten Mrs. Pelham, and I could not find the butler immediately. I had to go down to the kitchen premises in search of him. This caused a delay, and I was not back in the sick-room for two or three minutes. When I returned the child was in his present condition. How dreadfully bad he looks! What is the matter?”

Tarbot made no reply.

He bent again over the child. Once again he held the pulseless wrist between his finger and thumb; once again he listened at the cold still heart.

Barbara and Pelham now stood side by side at the foot of the bed. Having made his brief examination, Tarbot stood up and faced them.