Square, and leave this note at the doctor's."

"Oh, nothing's too good for _her!_" growled the jealous woman, thinking
of the fruit; to which he replied by offering her several of the oranges
not used in his experiment.

Bearing these, she withdrew, throwing a spiteful glance and leaving the
door unshut, so that her master distinctly heard her open Margaret's
door, come out again, and finally leave the house.

"Now, I'll give her a quarter of an hour to waken," said Mr. Cranley,
and he took from his pocket a fresh copy of the _Times_. He glanced
rather anxiously at the second column of the outer sheet "Still
advertising for him," he said to himself; and he then turned to the
sporting news. His calmness was extraordinary, but natural in him; for
the reaction of terror at the possible detection of his villainy had not
yet come on. When he had read all that interested him in the _Times_, he
looked hastily at his watch.

"Just twenty minutes gone," he said. "Time she wakened--and tried those
Jaffa oranges."

Then he rose, went up stairs stealthily, paused a moment opposite
Margaret's door, and entered the drawing-room. Apparently he did not
find any of the chairs in the dining-room comfortable enough; for he
chose a large and heavy _fauteuil_, took it up in his arms, and began
to carry it out In the passage, just opposite Margaret's chamber, he
stumbled so heavily that he fell, and the weighty piece of furniture was
dashed against the door of the sick-room, making a terrible noise. He
picked it up, and retired silently to the dining-room.

"That would have wakened the dead," he whispered to himself, "and she is
not dead--yet. She is certain to see the oranges, and take one of them,
and then--"

The reflection did not seem to relieve him, as he sat, gnawing his
mustache, in the chair he had brought down with him. Now the deed was
being accomplished, even his craven heart awoke to a kind of criminal
remorse. Now anxiety for the issue made him wish the act undone, or
frustrated; now he asked himself if there were no more certain and
less perilous way. So intent was his eagerness that a strange kind
of lucidity possessed him. He felt as if he beheld and heard what was
passing in the chamber of sickness, which he had made a chamber of
Death.

She has wakened--she has looked round--she has seen the poisoned
fruit--she has blessed him for his kindness in bringing it--she has
tasted the oranges--she has turned to sleep