But last night something had happened that
changed all this. He was now beginning to perceive the need of a
complete review of everything.
As he lay there, quiet indeed, but startlingly alert, he first
reviewed the single fact.
* * * * *
About an hour or so had passed away before anything particular
happened. They had sat there, those four, in complete silence, their
hands upon the table, occasionally shifting a little, hearing the
sound of one another's breathing or the faint rustle of one of the
ladies' dresses, in sufficient light from the screened fire and the
single heavily shaded electric burner to recognize faces, and even,
after the first few minutes, to distinguish small objects, or to read
large print.
For the most part Laurie had kept his eyes upon the medium in the
cabinet. There the man had leaned back, plainly visible for the most
part, with even the paleness of his face and the dark blot of his
beard clearly discernible in the twilight. Now and then the boy's eyes
had wandered to the other faces, to the young clergyman's opposite
downcast and motionless, with a sort of apprehensive look and a
determination not to give way--to the three-quarter profiles of the
two women, and the gleam of the pince-nez below Lady Laura's frizzed
hair.
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