THE UNDYING THING
A moment afterwards Dr. Dennison entered the room. He was very pale; perspiration streamed from his forehead; his cravat was disarranged. He was an old man, thin, with the air of proud humility. Sir Edric watched him narrowly.
'Then she is dead,' he said, with a quiet that Dr. Dennison had not expected.
'Twenty physicians—a hundred physicians could not have saved her. Sir Edric. She was' He gave some details of medical interest.
'Dennison,' said Sir Edric, still speaking with calm and restraint, 'why do you seem thus indisposed and panic-stricken? You are a physician; have you never looked upon the face of death before? The soul of my wife is with God'
'Yes,' murmured Dennison, 'a good woman, a perfect, saintly woman.'
'And,' Sir Edric went on, raising his eyes to the ceiling as though he
114
