CHAPTER SIXFor a moment Gisela could think of nothing to say.
And then, stammering a little because of some inner surprise and apprehension that seemed to spread through her body like a dark cloud, she said,
“I-I have bad news, my Lord. The Countess Festetics is, I am afraid, most unwell. We have been unable to awaken her.”
“I deeply regret any inconvenience that this must cause you, ma’am,” Lord Quenby said. “But, as the Countess cannot join us, will you permit me to lead you into dinner?”
His words were ordinary enough and yet it seemed to Gisela that there was a strange note, as if of triumph, in them and the suspicion came to her mind that the Countess’s deep sleep was exactly what he had intended. He must have known that the tablets he gave her were, in fact, nothing more nor less
