VII
THE LATE EXTRA
Impulsively Whitaker got up to follow Max, then hesitated and sank back in doubt, his head awhirl. He was for the time being shocked out of all capacity for
clear reasoning or right thinking. Uppermost in his consciousness he had a half-
formed notion that it wouldn't help matters if he were to force himself in upon
the crisis behind the scenes.
Beyond all question his wife had recognized in him the man whom she had been
given every reason to believe dead: a discovery so unnerving as to render her temporarily unable to continue. But if theatrical precedent were a reliable guide,
she would presently pull herself together and go on; people of the stage seldom
forget that their first duty is to the audience. If he sat tight and waited, all might yet be well—as well
