`` It is nothing , Alice , except my natural anxiety for you -- Well , Kingston , what do you want ? '' Trevlyn 's tender tones grew sharp as he addressed the entering servant , and the smile on his lips vanished , leaving them dry and white as he glanced at the card he handed him . An instant he stood staring at it , then asked , `` Is the man here ? '' `` In the library , sir . '' `` I 'll come . '' Flinging the card into the fire , he watched it turn to ashes before he spoke , with averted eyes : `` Only some annoying business , love ; I shall soon be with you again . Lie and rest till I come . '' With a hasty caress he left her , but as he passed a mirror , his wife saw an expression of intense excitement in his face . She said nothing , and lay motionless for several minutes evidently struggling with some strong impulse . `` He is ill and anxious , but hides it from me ; I have a right to know , and he 'll forgive me when I prove that it does no harm . '' As she spoke to herself she rose , glided noiselessly through the hall , entered a small closet built in the thickness of the wall , and , bending to the keyhole of a narrow door , listened with a half-smile on her lips at the trespass she was committing . A murmur of voices met her ear . Her husband spoke oftenest , and suddenly some word of his dashed the smile from her face as if with a blow . She started , shrank , and shivered , bending lower with set teeth , white cheeks , and panic-stricken heart . Paler and paler grew her lips , wilder and wilder her eyes , fainter and fainter her breath , till , with a long sigh , a vain effort to save herself , she sank prone upon the threshold of the door , as if struck down by death . `` Mercy on us , my lady , are you ill ? '' cried Hester , the maid , as her mistress glided into the room looking like a ghost , half an hour later . `` I am faint and cold . Help me to my bed , but do not disturb Sir Richard . '' A shiver crept over her as she spoke , and , casting a wild , woeful look about her , she laid her head upon the pillow like one who never cared to lift it up again .
XXXXX , a sharp-eyed , middle-aged woman , watched the pale creature for a moment , then left the room muttering , `` Something is wrong , and Sir Richard must know it .
Alice Hester Kingston Richard fire left minutes oftenest right trespass