He closed his eyes and lay quietly for a moment.
Then he opened them and there was a look of terror in them she had never seen before.
"I feel like I'm choking!" he said, sitting up, his hand over his mouth.
Quickly, without turning around, she reached for the drain pan on the table behind her and held it under his mouth.
He coughed and heaved and brought up a black brackish bile.
She put down the pan and wiped his mouth and chin and let him sink to the pillow again.
He looked up at her through tear-filled eyes, trying to smile.
"Christ," he whispered hoarsely. "That tasted like my own piss!"
She didn't answer and he closed his eyes wearily.
She could see him shiver under the onslaught of the pain.
After a few minutes, he spoke without opening his eyes.
"You know, Jennie," he whispered, "I thought the sweetest agony I’d ever know was coming. But going's got it beat a million miles."
He opened his eyes and looked at her.
The terror was gone from them and a deep, wise calm had taken its place.
He smiled slowly.
"All right, Jennie," he whispered, looking into her eyes. "Now!"
Her eyes still fastened to his, she reached behind her for a syrette.
Automatically she found the sunken vein and squeezed the syrette dry.
She picked up another. He smiled again as he saw it in her hand.
"Thanks, Jennie," he whispered.
She bent forward and kissed the pale, damp forehead.
"Good-by, Charlie."
He leaned back against the pillow and closed his eyes as she plunged the second syrette into his arm.
Soon there were six empty syrettes lying on the cover of the bed beside him.
She sat there very quietly, her fingers on his pulse, as the beat grew fainter and fainter.
At last, it stopped completely.
She stared down at him for a moment, then pressed down the lids over his eyes and drew the cover over his face.
She got to her feet, putting the syrettes into her uniform pocket as she wearily crossed the room and picked up the telephone.
The butler met her in the hallway as she was going to her room. He had an envelope in his hand.
"Mr. Standhurst asked me to give this to you, Miss Denton.
He gave it to me before you came on duty this morning."
"Thank you, Judson."
She closed the door behind her and tore open the envelope as she crossed the room.
Enclosed were five thousand-dollar bills and a small note in his scratchy handwriting.
Dear Jennie,
By now you must understand the reason I wanted you to stay with me.
One thing I could never understand is that false mercy so many proclaim while prolonging the agony of approaching death.
Enclosed find your severance pay.
You may use it as you will – to provide for a rainy day while you continue to waste your life in the generally unrewarding care of others; or, if you've half the intelligence I give you credit for and are half the woman I think, you'll use it as tuition to Aida's school, which for the sake of a better name I shall call Standhurst College, and go on from there to a more luxurious manner of living.
With gratitude and affection, I remain,
Sincerely, C. Standhurst
Still holding the note in her hand, she went to the closet and took down her valise.
She placed it on the bed and slowly began to pack.
Less than an hour later, she left the cab and hurried up the steps into the church, adjusting the scarf she wore around her throat over her head.
She genuflected at the back of the church and hurried down the aisle to the altar, turning left toward the statue of the Virgin.
She knelt and clasped her hands as she bowed her head for a moment.
Then she turned and took a candle from the rack and held a burning taper to it before placing it among the other candles beneath the statue.
Again she bowed her head and knelt for a moment, then turned and hurried back up the aisle.
At the door, she dipped her fingers into the Holy Fount and blessed herself, then opened her purse and pressed a bill into the slot of the collection box.
That night, the rector had a very pleasant surprise.