Her hands shook as she held the bottle,but with a supreme effort she controlled her muscles and drew the cork without a sound,an accomplishment that she had learned in the back parlour of the Angel.She poured out half a glass,and swallowed it neat.The fiery liquid burnt her throat and brought the tears to her eyes,but she endured it willingly for the sake of the blessed relief that always followed.A minute later she repeated the dose and lay down on the bed.In ten minutes the seductive liquid had calmed her nerves like oil on troubled waters.She listened to the familiar sounds of the shop and the street with a delicious languor and sense of comfort in her body.In an hour she had reached the maudlin stage,and the bottle was half empty.
She felt at peace with the world,and began to think kindly of Jonah.
Hazily she remembered her bitter speech to Miss Grimes,and wondered at her violence.There was nothing the matter with him.He had been a good husband to her,working day and night to get on in the world.She felt a sudden desire to be friendly with him.Maudlin tears of self-reproach filled her eyes as she thought how she had stood in his way instead of helping him.She would mend her ways,give up the drink which was killing her,and take her proper position,with a fine house and servants.With a fatuous obstinacy in her sodden brain,she decided not to lose a minute,but to go and surprise Jonah with her noble resolutions.
She got to her feet,and saw the brandy bottle.Ah!Jonah must not know that she had been drinking,and with the last conscious act of her clouded brain she staggered into the sitting-room and hid the bottle under the cushions of the sofa.Then,conscious of nothing but her resolve,she lurched to the top of the stairs.It was nearly dark,and she felt for the railing,but the weight of her body sent an atrocious pain through her leg,and to ease it she took a step forward to put her weight on the other.And then,without fear,and without the desire or the power to save herself,she stepped into space and fell headlong down the winding staircase that she had always dreaded,rolling and bumping with a horrible noise on the wooden steps down to the shop,where the electric lights had just been switched on.She rolled sideways,and lay,with a curious slackness in her limbs,in front of the cashier's desk.One of the shopmen,startled by the noise,turned,and then,with a look of horror on his face,ran to the door.He bumped into Jonah,who was coming from the ladies'department.