"Keep up your courage, Mrs. Cheniston." He laid his hand gently on her arm. "I'll be back in an hour or so--and in the meantime, if there should be any change, you will do exactly as I have told you." He had already given her full directions. "Remember, no one but Mr. Garnett and Hassan knows of my absence, so don't be surprised if I'm supposed to be asleep somewhere."
"No. But"--she put her own right hand over his as he gently clasped her arm--"you're sure there is no one but you to go? Is Mr. Wood too old?"
"No--but his heart is affected, and the climb would be dangerous. And Hassan, though he's behaved like a brick up to now, funks the climb." His tone was good-naturedly contemptuous. "As for Garnett, he's longing to go--can't quite forgive me for shoving him out--but his arm won't stand it; so plainly I am the one to go."
"Then go--and God be with you," she said very gently, and in her eyes Anstice saw once again the look of mingled strength and tenderness whose possibility he had divined long ago on the occasion of their first meeting on that sunlit morning on the steps of Cherry Orchard.
* * * * *
And with the words ringing in his ears he set forth upon his quest.