The Countess was stretched on her bed. The doctor on one side,
and the chambermaid on the other, were standing looking at her.
From time to time, she drew a heavy stertorous breath,
like a person oppressed in sleeping. 'Is she likely to die?'
Henry asked.
'She is dead,' the doctor answered. 'Dead of the rupture of a blood-vessel
on the brain. Those sounds that you hear are purely mechanical--
they may go on for hours.'
Henry looked at the chambermaid. She had little to tell.
The Countess had refused to go to bed, and had placed herself at her
desk to proceed with her writing. Finding it useless to remonstrate
with her, the maid had left the room to speak to the manager.
In the shortest possible time, the doctor was summoned to the hotel,
and found the Countess dead on the floor. There was this to tell--
and no more.
Looking at the writing-table as he went out, Henry saw the sheet
of paper on which the Countess had traced her last lines of writing.
The characters were almost illegible. Henry could just distinguish
the words, 'First Act,' and 'Persons of the Drama.
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