Page:The Valley of Fear.pdf/100

Rh “How long was it after hearing the shot that you were stopped on the stair by Mr. Barker?”

“It may have been a couple of minutes. It is so hard to reckon time at such a moment. He implored me not to go on. He assured me that I could do nothing. Then Mrs. Allen, the housekeeper, led me upstairs again. It was all like some dreadful dream.”

“Can you give us any idea how long your husband had been downstairs before you heard the shot?”

“No, I cannot say. He went from his dressing room and I did not hear him go. He did the round of the house every night, for he was nervous of fire. It is the only thing that I have ever known him nervous of.”

“That is just the point which I want to come to, Mrs. Douglas. You have known your husband only in England, have you not?”

“Yes, we have been married five years.”

“Have you heard him speak of anything which occurred in America and might bring some danger upon him?”

Mrs. Douglas thought earnestly before she answered. “Yes,” she said at last, “I have always [98]