“It would be a great relief to my mind,” he said, “if you could definitely tell me that there was nothing I could have done to help him.”
“I am positive there was nothing. Probably he was dead when he fell. There is a question or two I should like to ask. When you rang me up, you said he had had some sort of a fit. Had he suffered from fits before?”
Colin almost smiled with pleasure at that question.
“He told me once that when he was a boy he was subject to them,” he said. “He supposed he had outgrown them.”
“I see. Of course this was not a fit, medically speaking. No sign of an epileptic seizure or anything of the kind. Sudden death: that’s all we can say at present.”
“And from what, do you conjecture?” asked Colin.
“It is quite impossible to say. That of course will have to be ascertained.”
“One would imagine he had some terrible shock. There was an expression in his eyes of the most abject terror.”
“Now would you like to summon one of your men to help us?” he said. “We must move the body, of course. Is there some room near at hand where we can place him till morning, when I will be back early to make all arrangements--some room which you can lock up and give me the key or keep it yourself?”
“Yes, there’s the smoking-room close at hand,” said Colin. “But there is no need to call anybody. I will help you.”
They laid him on a sofa there, covering the face with a rug, and presently, after the key was turned, and Colin had taken it from the lock, he saw the doctor to the door. In his admirable way he had conveyed the impression of being terribly shocked and keeping a firm hand on himself.
“You can rest assured, Lord Yardley,” said the doctor, “that you did all that could be done. You acted with great wisdom in not moving him, and in sending at once for me. I wish I could have been of any use. Put your mind quite at rest about that. You’ll sleep I hope?”
“I feel as if I should,” he said. “Now it is all over I feel most awfully tired. Good night, Dr. Martin. Ever so many thanks.”
Colin bolted and barred the door, switched off the lights in the hall and went upstairs. Passing Dennis’s door, he saw that it still stood ajar, and a line of brightness was rectangled round it. He pushed it quietly open, expecting to see that Dennis had again fallen asleep while waiting for him to come and say good night. This time, however, the boy was wide-awake.