the missing princess
Chapter 5
And there was a long silence, and the doctor was the first to break the silence.
"We want a nurse here as soon as I can, and I know one that will suit me, and I'll go at once to get her if I can." I should wait to order until I come back. Some of you will always stay with the patient. It may be necessary to move him to another room later. But in the meantime, you'd better leave him here." "Miss Trelawny, may I consider you or Mrs. Grant to stay here—not only in the room but near and watchful of the patient till I come back?"
She nodded positively and sat beside the couch. The doctor gave her some directions about what to do in case her father was conscious before he came back.
Next to move was Superintendent Dolan, who approached Sergeant Dow as he said:
"I had better go back to the station now—unless, of course, you wish me to stay a little longer."
He replied, "Is Johnny Wright still in your band?"
"Yes, do you want him to be with you?"
The other nodded and said, "Then I will send him to you as soon as I can." He will stay with you as long as you like. I will tell him that he will take his instructions entirely from you.
The sergeant escorted him to the door, saying as he went, "
"Thank you, sir; you always think of the men who work with you. It is a pleasure to be with you again. I shall go back to Scotland Yard and report to my boss. Then I shall call Chatwood and be back here as soon as I can, I suppose I may." "I take it, and I can linger here for a day or two, if need be; that may be of some help or perhaps some relief to you if you are about to unravel this mystery."
"I would be very grateful to you."
He looked at her intently for a few seconds before speaking again.
"Before I go, may I have permission to look into your father's table and desk?" There may be something that will give us a clue in all the goings on.
Her answer was so unequivocal that it almost caught him by surprise.
"You have the fullest possible permission to do anything that may help us in this terrible problem--to discover what is wrong with my father, or what may protect him in the future!"
He at once began a methodical search for the dressing table and, afterwards, for the writing table in the room and found in one of the drawers a sealed letter. He immediately brought this across the room and handed it to Miss Trelawney.
"A letter addressed to me and in my father's hands!" she said, eagerly opening it.
I watched her face as she began to read, but I saw at once that Sergeant Dow unhesitatingly kept his eyes on her face as he watched every fluttering expression. I kept my eyes henceforth fixed on his as Miss Trelawney read her letter through what I was thinking. There was a conviction, though I kept it in my heart, that among the suspicions on the inquisitor's mind was one, perhaps rather than certain, about Miss Trelawney herself.
For several minutes, Miss Trelawny held the letter in her hand with downcast eyes as she thought. Then I read it carefully again. This time the various expressions were condensed, and I thought I could track them down easily.
When she finished the second reading, she stopped again. Then, with some hesitation, I handed the letter over to the inquisitor, and he read it eagerly, but with an unchanged face, read it a second time, and then returned it with a bow.
She paused again and then handed it to me, and as she did so, her eyes lifted for a moment seductively, a quick blush spreading across her pale cheeks and forehead. She showed no disturbance in giving the letter to the informant; she might not have shown anything to anyone else, but for myself, I was afraid to pursue the idea further, and I consciously read that the eyes of both Miss Trelawny and the informant were fixed upon me.
"My dear daughter, I want you to take this letter as an absolute and imperative instruction and to admit no perversity whatsoever in the event of anything undesirable or unexpected by you or by others. If I should be suddenly and mysteriously harmed, either by illness, accident, or attack, you shall follow these directives. If I am not already in my bedroom when you become aware of my condition, I will be brought there as soon as possible, even if I am dead. My body is to be brought there from now on. Until I am conscious and able to give instructions on my own account or for burial, I shall never be left alone, and not for a single moment from nightfall to sunrise, at least two persons shall remain in the room. It would be a good thing to have a trained nurse in the room from time to time, and you will notice Any symptoms, whether permanent or variable, that may afflict my attorneys, Marvin and Jewkes, of 27B Lincoln's Inn, have full instructions in case of death, and Mr. Marvin himself has undertaken to see my wishes personally fulfilled. I must advise you, my dear daughter, Seeing that you have no relative to propose to, to have a friend you can He can be trusted to either stay inside the house where immediate contact can be made, come in at night to help watch, or be on call. This friend may be male or female, but, whatever it may be, an observer or other chaperone of the opposite sex must be added. Understand that it is the essence of my desire that there be an intelligence, both male and female, awake and exercising itself for the attainment of my aims. Once again, my dear Margaret, let me convince you of the need for observation and reflection only on conclusions, however strange they may be. If she gets sick or injured, this will not be a normal occasion, and I want to warn you until your guard is complete.
"There is nothing in my chambers to speak of that should in any way be removed, dislodged, or for any reason whatsoever." I have a particular reason and purpose for placing each of them, so that any movement of them will frustrate my plans. "If you want money or advice in anything, Master Marvin will carry out your wishes, for which he has my full instructions.”
Abel Trelawney.
I read the letter again before I spoke because I was afraid of betraying myself. The choice of a friend of mine may be a very important occasion for me, for she had already asked me to help her in her first pains; but love makes its own doubts, and I feared that my thoughts seemed to spin at lightning speed, and in a few seconds a whole thought process was formulated. I must not volunteer to be the friend whom the father advised his daughter to help her in her vigil. However, that one look had a lesson I shouldn't ignore. Also, did she not, when she wanted to help, send me the stranger, save for one meeting at a dance and a short afternoon of company on the river? Wouldn't it humiliate her to ask me twice? Humiliate her! no! This pain I could ever save her; refusal is not humiliation. So, when I handed her the letter again, I said:
"I know you will forgive me, Miss Trelawney, if I suppose too much; but if you will allow me to help watch, I shall be proud." "Though the occasion is sad, I shall be very glad to permit me the honour."
Despite her obvious and painful effort to restrain herself, a red tide swept across her face and neck. Even her eyes seemed sunken, in stark contrast to her pale cheeks, when the tide went out. She answered in a low voice:
"I would be very grateful for your help!"
Then she added an afterthought:
"But you must not let me be selfish in my need!" "I know you have many duties to involve you in, and though I would greatly appreciate your help -- extremely -- it would not be fair to monopolise your time."
"As for that," she replied at once, "my time is for you; today I can easily arrange my business so that I can come here in the afternoon and stay till the morning." Then, if the occasion still requires it, I can arrange my business so that I will have more time at my disposal.
I was very impressed. I could see tears gathering in her eyes, and she tilted her head. The investigator spoke:
"I'm glad you'll be here, Mr. Ross. I'd be at home myself, as Miss Trelawney would let me, if my people at Scotland Yard would permit me. This letter seems to put a different complexion on everything, though the mystery remains as great as ever. If you can wait here for an hour or two, I'll go to the headquarters and then to the guards. "After that, I'll come back, and you can go away easily in your mind because I'll be here."
When he was gone, the two of us, Miss Trelawney and myself, were silent. Finally, she raised her eyes and looked at me for a moment. After that, I would not have exchanged places with the king. For a while, she busied herself around her father's impromptu bed. Then, asking me to make sure I didn't take my eyes off him until she came back, I hurried on.
In a few minutes, she was back with Mrs. Grant, two maids, and two gentlemen, carrying the whole frame and furnishings of a light iron bed. They set about assembling and making it. When the work was completed and the servants withdrew, she said to me:
"It would be well to be all ready when the doctor comes back." "He will certainly want Father to sleep, and a proper bed will be better for him than a couch." Then she approached a chair beside her father and sat down, watching him.
I walked around the room, taking careful notes of everything I saw. And, in truth, there were enough things in the room to arouse the curiosity of any man—though the accompanying circumstances were less strange. The whole place, except for the pieces of furniture needed for a well-furnished bedroom, was full of wonderful curiosities, especially Egyptian. Since the room was of such a large size, there was an opportunity to place a large number of them, even if they were of gigantic proportions, as is the case with these.
While I was still looking around the room, there was the sound of wheels on the gravel outside the house. There was a chime at the door to the hall, and a few minutes later, after an initial tap on the door and the reply, "Come in!" Dr. Winchester entered, followed by a young woman in a dark nurse's dress.
“I got lucky!” he said as he entered. “I found her at once and free.”
Miss Trelawney, this is Nurse Kennedy!
Writer: Asmaa nada