at that moment andrew, the valet, came flying out of his master's room.
"oh, miss margaret! miss margaret!" he cried, hoarsely, "how can i ever tell you what had happened? but it was a mistake—indeed it was all a mistake! i do not see how i ever came to do it!"
margaret gardiner hurriedly caught the man's arm in a firm grasp, looking sternly in his face.
"andrew," she said, with great calmness, "stop that shouting, and tell me instantly what the matter is. has—has—anything happened my brother or—or his wife?"
her quiet tone brought the valet to his senses more quickly than anything else could have done.
"yes, i'll tell you, miss margaret," he answered, hoarsely; "and though master turns me off to-morrow for it, i swear to you earnestly that it was all a terrible mistake."
"what has happened?" repeated miss margaret, sternly. "get to the point at once, andrew."
"it was this way, miss margaret," he cried. "master sent me for a glass of brandy. i brought it to him. he always likes a few drops of cordial put in it, and i went to his dresser, where i had placed the cordial a few minutes before, took up the bottle hurriedly, and shook in a generous quantity. now it happened that i had also taken out a bottle of drops—quieting drops which master had been taking for the last two nights for a violent toothache—it is a powerful narcotic—to make him sleep and forget his pain, he told me. i—i—don't know how i could have done it; i—i was not conscious of doing it; but somehow i must have put the drops instead of the cordial into his brandy, for he has fallen into a deep sleep, from which i am unable to awaken him."
"thank heaven, it is no worse!" sobbed miss margaret. "i—i was afraid some terrible accident had happened."
while he was speaking, sally had run into the corridor and made the pretense of listening to the valet's dilemma, while antoinette stood back in the shadow laughing to herself at the strange way fate or fortune or luck, or whatever it was, had played into her clever hands.
this was, indeed, an unexpected dilemma. following the valet into her brother's apartments, she found andrew's statement indeed true—her brother was in a sound sleep, from which all their efforts were futile to awake him.
"there is nothing else to be done but to go down without him," she said at length in despair, turning to sally. "the effect of the potion ought to wear off in an hour or so, then he can join the guests."
the entrance of miss margaret and the bride created quite a sensation; but when the former explained the ludicrous mistake which caused the doctor's temporary absence from them, their mirth burst all bounds, and the very roof of the grand old mansion shook with peal after peal of hearty laughter.
so the fun and merriment went on until he should join them, and the happy, dazzling, beautiful young bride was the petted queen of the hour.
old mrs. gardiner was greatly disappointed because her beautiful daughter-in-law did not wear the famous family diamonds, but when sally slipped up to her and whispered that she had forgotten, in her excitement over jay's mishap, to don them, the old lady was mollified.
the evening ran its length, and ended at last. midnight had come, giving place to a new moon, and in the wee sma' hours the festive guests had taken their departure, each wishing with a jolly little laugh, to be remembered to their host when he should awake. the lights were out in the magnificent drawing-room and in the corridor.
young mrs. gardiner was at last in her own boudoir, in the hands of antoinette.
it was generally late in the morning when those pretty blue eyes opened. but it was little more than daylight when antoinette came to her couch, grasped hurriedly the pink-and-white arm that lay on the lace coverlet, saying, hoarsely:
"you are wanted, my lady. you must come at once. master is worse; that is, he is sleeping more heavily than ever. miss margaret did not leave his side all night, andrew tells me, and she says the nearest doctor must be sent for. i thought it would look better if you were at his bedside, too, when the doctor came."
"you did quite right to awaken me, antoinette," replied young mrs. gardiner. "get me my morning robe, and slippers to match, at once, and take my hair out of these curl-papers. one can not appear before one's husband's relatives without making a careful toilet and looking one's best, for their argus eyes are sure to take in any defects. i hope my husband will not have a long sickness or anything like that. i can not endure a sick-room. i think i should go mad. hurry, antoinette! arrange my toilet as quickly as possible. i shall go into the grounds for a breath of fresh air before i venture into the heated atmosphere of that room, in which no doubt the lamps are still burning."
"i would advise you not to go into the grounds, my lady," replied antoinette, quietly.
"why, i should like to know?" asked young mrs. gardiner, very sharply.
"i have a reason for what i say," returned antoinette; "but it is best not to tell you—just now."
"i demand to know!" declared her mistress.
"if you must know, i suppose i may as well tell you now as at any other time, my lady," replied antoinette; "though the news i have to tell may make you a trifle nervous, i fear. i was just out in the grounds gathering roses for your vase, when, to my astonishment, i heard my name called softly, but very distinctly, from the direction of a little brook which runs through the grounds scarcely more than a hundred feet from the hedge where the roses grew that i was gathering. i turned quickly in that direction. at first i saw no one, and i was about to turn away, believing my ears must have deceived me, when suddenly the tall alder-bushes parted, and a man stepped forth, beckoning to me, and that man, my lady, was—mr. victor lamont!"
