For a moment the silence closed over them like water over a stone.
“Well,” said the doctor, looking from one to the other, “what are we going to do about it?”
Mr. Deeling’s face turned from red to white.
“You confess it,” he muttered.
The doctor turned upon him abruptly.
“Go to your room, Deeling, and stay there till I come to you.”
“But I—I—” began Mr. Deeling, looking at Constance.
“You had better leave us, Mr. Deeling,” said Constance.
The doctor moved aside to let him pass. Mr. Deeling shuffled along the wall like a crab, and scrabbled at the handle of the door.
“This is terrible, this is disastrous, this is the end,” he muttered.
The door closed gently behind him. Constance and the doctor were alone.
“And now, Constance,” he said, glancing towards her. She looked at him ste
