ght shudder, realising
that the stuff in that bottle was enough to give lockjaw to half the
inhabitants in Cannes. No, the doctor was mistaken, the mixture she
sought was not here.

Rather more slowly than she had come up, she retraced her steps to the
bottom floor. At the last landing she stopped, listening acutely.

"_Non, non, je ne peux pas, je ne peux pas le faire!_"

It was the Frenchwoman's voice, high-pitched, emotional, the protest
wrung from her as if in agony. What was she saying? A rapid stream of
French followed--Esther could not catch a word of it--then at the end a
phrase or two that was intelligible.

"_Je vous jure, je mourrais--je mourrais_...."

The doctor's voice cut in upon her, dominating, brutal even, a tone
that caused Esther to gasp and clutch the stair-rail.

"Stop that! Stop that nonsense! Are you an utter fool?" It was like
bidding a dog to lie down. Silence followed, then a stifled sob.

CHAPTER IV

Esther's first thought was, "Why does she stand being talked to like
that? I wouldn't, not for a moment."

It was as if all his latent contempt for the opposite sex was
concentrated into that one vitriolic burst. Well----! Some
physicians, she knew, practised with hyper-emotional subjects the
method of "treating them rough." This was probably Sartorius's idea.
Certainly she was ready to believe that Lady Clifford was of the
uncontrolled, hysterical type, who easily gave way to her feelings;
perhaps the doctor had found this the best way of dealing with her. As
she still paused, hesitating to enter the room, the doctor spoke again.
"Sit down and try to behave like a reasonable woman. Remember all I
have told you. Why should you upset yourself like this?"

There was no audible reply. Esther retreated upward a few steps, then
descended with a brisk step and opened the door. She observed Lady
Clifford sitting with a submissive mien on the edge of a stiff Francois
Premier chair, biting her underlip and pulling a small lace-edged
handkerchief between her fingers. The doctor, with an immovable face,
was filling a hypodermic syringe from a small phial.

"I'm sorry, doctor----" Esther began, when he interrupted her.

"No, no, it's all right, nurse, I found I had some here after all.
Now, if you will assist Lady Clifford with her dress----"

"I suppose you give it in the thigh?"

"In the thigh."

Lady Clifford had crossed to the hard couch by the window, and was no