A bell rang in the next room—eager voices talked; hurried footsteps moved in it—an interval passed, and the doctor returned. “Was she listening?” whispered Mr. Neal, in German. “The women are restoring her,” the doctor whispered back. “She has heard it all. In God’s name, what are we to do next?” Before it was possible to reply, Mr. Armadale spoke. The doctor’s return had roused him to a sense of present things.
“Go on,” he said, as if nothing had happened.
“I refuse to meddle further with your infamous secret,” returned Mr. Neal. “You are a murderer on your own confession. If that letter is to be finished, don’t ask me to hold the pen for you.”
“You gave me your promise,” was the reply, spoken with the same immovable self-possession. “You must write for me, or break your word.”
For th
