Little Less Than Kind by Charlotte Armstrong

Author:Charlotte Armstrong
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road

CHAPTER TEN

“She’s quiet, Mr. Crown. Dr. Jones, he’s up there now. She didn’t have no accident or anything. Her and Mr. Ladd had some words; that was it. And Dr. Jones, he’s taking care.”

“Good. Thank you, Cleona. Where is Mr. Ladd now?”

“Oh, he gone. He took off in his automobile.”

“I see.”

David felt no surprise. He felt, in fact, relief, believing that things were coming to a head in this house, the trouble would be opened up. He looked into Cleona’s beautiful mahogany colored eyes, feeling, as he often had, that she was a wise woman. “Do you know what happened?”

“No, sir, I doesn’t,” said Cleona, “but Mr. Ladd, he ain’t been feeling too right with himself for a long time.”

“I agree with you,” David started for the stairs and saw Dr. Jones coming down.

Cleona was two jumps ahead of his thought. “I’ll go be with her,” she said and passed the doctor on the stairs.

“Mr. Crown? She’s all right.”

“Good. Will you come in here a minute?”

“Certainly.”

They went into the library. David did not know this doctor at all. He was Abby’s doctor. He had not been Hob’s. He was a little slick for David’s taste and a little too prosperous-looking. “What is it?” David asked him bluntly.

“Emotion,” said Dr. Jones. He sat down in one of the leather chairs, evidently not worried about any dying person to whom he owed a visit, or, for any other reason, on tenter-hooks to be off.

David offered him a cigarette which the doctor took.

“Abby is very high-strung,” the doctor said. “It doesn’t take much to set her off.”

“Do you know what ‘set her off’?” said David stiffly.

“No, no. I believe that certain things were said that hurt her feelings in some way. She seems worried about her son.”

“Rightly so,” said David. He did not know this man. He did not know how far he wanted to venture into confidence with him.

“I don’t know the boy,” said the doctor, flicking his lighter shut. “But it is too bad that Abby can’t be protected from this sort of thing. Oh, she’ll be all right. Physically; you know, there’s not much wrong with her.”

“Then these spells of what you call ‘emotion’ are not dangerous to her?” said David flatly. He did not like something here that began to sound two-faced.

The doctor was evasive. “Why, not this one. But of course a chronic state of high emotion isn’t good for anyone.” Very smooth.

David said, “There is something I must ask you. What did you prescribe for Abby in the way of pills for pain?”

“For pain?”

“Last summer.”

“Last summer?” The doctor’s brows went up. “May I ask why you ask?”

“Yes. Abby tells me she had some pills for pain and she took them to her husband in the hospital.”

“Oh,” said Dr. Jones, “those.”

“Were they dangerous?”

“Dangerous?” The doctor cocked his head and looked amused. “Well, I don’t suppose that if you were to swallow them down by the handful that they would do you any particular good. However, I don’t order very strong drugs for Abby.

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