CHAPTER XVII
CLUTTERBUCK'S ODD BEHAVIOUR
Scarcely had the Home Secretary departed when my maid announced that apatient was waiting to see me in my study.
I left Sarakoff sitting tranquilly in the waiting-room and entered thestudy. A grave, precise, clean-shaven man was standing by the window. Heturned as I entered. It was Mr. Clutterbuck.
"So you are Dr. Harden!" he exclaimed.
He stopped and looked confused.
"Yes," I said; "please sit down, Mr. Clutterbuck."
He did so, twisting his hat awkwardly and gazing at the floor.
"I owe you an apology," he said at length. "I came to consult you,little expecting to find that it was you after all--that you were Dr.Harden. I must apologize for my rudeness to you in the tea-shop, butwhat you said was so extraordinary ... you could not expect me tobelieve."
He glanced at me, and then looked away. There was a dull flush on hisface.
"Please do not apologize. What did you wish to consult me about?"
"About my wife."
"Is she worse?"
"No." He dropped his hat, recovered it, and finally set it upon a cornerof the table. "No, she is not worse. In fact, she is the reverse. She isbetter."
I waited, feeling only a mild interest in the cause of his agitation.
"She has got the Blue Disease," he continued, speaking with difficulty."She got it yesterday and since then she has been much better. Her coughhas ceased. She--er--she is wonderfully better." He began to drum withhis fingers on his knee, and looked with a vacant gaze at the corner ofthe room. "Yes, she is certainly better. I was wondering if----"
There was a silence.
"Yes?"
He started and looked at me.
"Why, you've got it, too!" he exclaimed. "How extraordinary! I hadn'tnoticed it." He got to his feet and went to the window. "I suppose Ishall get it next," he muttered.
"Certainly, you'll get it."
He nodded, and continued to stare out of the window. At length he spoke.
"My wife is a woman who has suffered a great deal, Dr. Harden. I havenever had enough money to send her to health resorts, and she has alwaysrefused to avail herself of any institutional help. For the last yearshe has been confined to a room on the top floor of our house--a nice,pleasant room--and it has been an understood thing between Dr. Sykes andmyself that her malady was to be given a convenient name. In fact, wehave called it a weak heart. You understand, of course."
"Perfectly."
"I have always been led to expect that the end was inevitable," hecontinued, speaking with sudden rapidity. "Under such circumstances Imade certain plans. I am a careful man, Dr. Harden, and I look ahead andlay my plans." He stopped abruptly and turned to face me. "Is there anytruth in what you told me the other day?"
I nodded. A curiously haggard expression came over him. He steppedswiftly towards me and caught my arm.
"Does the germ cure disease?"
"Of course. Your wife is now immortal. You need not be alarmed, Mr.Clutterbuck. She is immortal. Before her lies a future absolutely freefrom suffering. She will rapidly regain her normal health and strength.Provided she avoids accidents, your wife will live for ever."
"My wife will live forever?" he repeated hoarsely. "Then what willhappen to me?"
"You, too, will live for ever," I said calmly. "Please do not grasp myarm so violently."
He drew back. He was extremely pale, and there were beads ofperspiration on his brow.
"Are you married?" he asked.
"No."
"Have you any idea what all this means to me if what you say is true?"he exclaimed. He drew his hand across his eyes. "I am mad to believe youfor an instant. But she is better--there is no denying that. Good God,if it is true, what a tragedy you have made of human lives!"
He remained standing in the middle of the room, and I, notcomprehending, gazed at him. Then, of a sudden, he picked up his hat,and muttering something, dashed out and vanished.
I heard the front door bang. Perfectly calm and undisturbed, I rejoinedSarakoff in the waiting-room. The incident of Mr. Clutterbuck passedtotally from my mind, and I began to reflect on certain problems arisingout of the visit of the Home Secretary.