Avice Gray, V-VII [pp. 134-141]

Al VICE GRAY.
"What's the matter, doctor?" said Mrs. Har mer, observing his changed looks.
"Avice, come here," he said, suddenly, by way
of answer.
She came and stood before him, wondering what
was to come, but not afraid.
"Avice, did you never do anything you did not
want to have known?"
"I'll not quite say that, sir; we all do such
things sometimes."
"You have done nothing to-day that you would
wish to hide?"
This speech, to Mrs. Harmer, could have but one
meaning. "It won't be hid for long anyway, Dr.
Wells." The doctor looked at her, and was amazed
to see that she bridled and smiled.
"There is some strange mistake," he stammered.
"Have you heard anything?"
"I've heard what Avice told me. Have you
heard it already, too?"
What did she mean? What should he do? If
these two women knew the truth, would one smile
and the other blush as they did now? If they did
not-if neither of them was acquainted with the
tragedy of the morning, must his be the tongue to
make it known? Out of the confusion of his
thoughts one conviction was born-that more de pended on him than he had either expected or de sired. But he had gone too far to recede; interest
and curiosity were already aroused, and he must
pursue his course, though now uncertain whither it
might lead him.
"Avice, did you see Stephen Vanvannick to day?"
"Let Mrs. Harmer tell you all about it," said
the girl, with a nervous laugh, trying to disengage
the hand he had taken; but he held her firmly.
"Answer me, Avice. You will be asked the
question by sterner lips than mine. Have you seen
Stephen Vanvannick to-day?"
"Yes; what was the harm?" She was frightened now at his look and tone.
"What did he say to you? Where did you
leave him? Was he as usual? Was there no one
else with him?"
"I left him on the ridge; he was alone and he
was quite well, and he said-I-oh, what is the
matter? Has anything happened?"
' Something is wrong," said Mrs. Harmer.
"Please, doctor, speak out." Her fears were all
thoroughly aroused now, though as yet she knew not
what to fear.
"Did you and Stephen quarrel? Would you do
him any harm?"
"Quarrel!-harm! —We are going to be married next week."
Dr. Wells was as much confounded as Mrs. Harmer had been, but with his darker knowledge he
had no ability to reflect on the inconsistencies her
statement must involve. And there was no time to
be lost; he knew the impression that was abroad
as to the author of Stephen's death; he knew that
where he had come others less gentle would soon
follow; and he knew that he, having assumed his
present duty, must fulfill it to the end.
He took the girl by the arms and looked her full
in the face. "You believe that Stephen Vanvannick
is going to marry you next week?" he said.
The girl gave him back look for look. "He has
promised me," she replied, "and this time I know
he will keep his word."
There is no mistaking the light of truth. It
beamed out of Avice's blue eyes in all the glory of
the trusting faith that is evoked by the doubt of an other. After that scrutiny Dr. Wells never wavered
again in his belief; accusation was as the sighing
of the summer wind, legal proof was no proof at
all, to the man who had looked for that instant into
the depths of the woman's soul.
But it made his present task none the easier.
What the fairy fabric was that he was to level to
the earth with a breath he did not yet know; but
he did know that such existed, and that the fears of
the inhabitant of the airy palace were already aroused
for its stability. He paused a moment, if the change
in the flash of his thought could be called a pause.
He knew, as others of the profession know, that
while wounds of lesser consequence will cause ago nies that wring the human frame, a mortal injury
may sometimes be scarcely felt. May it not be thus
also with the mind? May it not be possible so to
stun sensation that, while the intellect receives in telligence, the heart may not yet perceive the pain?
May there not be cases where carefulness is cruelty,
and where the truer mercy is to deal the blow with
steady and unsparing hand?
Perhaps Dr. Wells did not reason all this out,
but he acted on the thought. For what he had to
tell no preparation could prepare his hearers, and he
rushed into the middle of the subject without wait ing for reflection, and told the whole in a breath.
"My poor child, Stephen Vanvannick will never
marry you nor any one else. He was killed on the
ridge this morning, and people say your hand did
it."
He had calculated correctly if he had calculated
at all. The girl did not in the least take in the
meaning or feel the weight of his words. While the
elder woman gasped and shrank, the younger only
started, and then-laughed aloud.
"I kill Stephen!" she said. "That's amusing;
why, I love him better than my life." Then she
looked again at the doctor, and saw new meaning in
his face. "Tell me what you mean!" she cried, in
a voice of sharp suspense and dread.
"You know what I mean, poor girl. Stephen is
dead."
The too common words found their significance
in her mind, but she did not yet grasp the whole
deadly truth. "It is not true. I left him well and
strong. What can have happened to him since?"
"He has been murdered, Avice; it was not
you-'
But he never finished the sentence; the mortal
blow had descended, and sensation was stunned.
Avice Gray fell as though Heaven's bolt had struck
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