untry, St. John thought it unlikely
that a telegram would either be sent or received; but having reduced the
distance of the hill town, in which he was staying, from a hundred miles
to thirty miles, and having hired a carriage and horses, he started
at once to fetch the doctor himself. He succeeded in finding him, and
eventually forced the unwilling man to leave his young wife and return
forthwith. They reached the villa at midday on Tuesday.

Terence came out to receive them, and St. John was struck by the fact
that he had grown perceptibly thinner in the interval; he was white too;
his eyes looked strange. But the curt speech and the sulky masterful
manner of Dr. Lesage impressed them both favourably, although at the
same time it was obvious that he was very much annoyed at the whole
affair. Coming downstairs he gave his directions emphatically, but it
never occurred to him to give an opinion either because of the presence
of Rodriguez who was now obsequious as well as malicious, or because he
took it for granted that they knew already what was to be known.

"Of course," he said with a shrug of his shoulders, when Terence asked
him, "Is she very ill?"

They were both conscious of a certain sense of relief when Dr. Lesage
was gone, leaving explicit directions, and promising another visit in a
few hours' time; but, unfortunately, the rise of their spirits led them
to talk more than usual, and in talking they quarrelled. They quarrelled
about a road, the Portsmouth Road. St. John said that it is macadamised
where it passes Hindhead, and Terence knew as well as he knew his own
name that it is not macadamised at that point. In the course of the
argument they said some very sharp things to each other, and the rest
of the dinner was eaten in silence, save for an occasional half-stifled
reflection from Ridley.

When it grew dark and the lamps were brought in, Terence felt unable to
control his irritation any longer. St. John went to bed in a state
of complete exhaustion, bidding Terence good-night with rather more
affection than usual because of their quarrel, and Ridley retired to his
books. Left alone, Terence walked up and down the room; he stood at the
open window.

The lights were coming out one after another in the town beneath, and it
was very peaceful and cool in the garden, so that he stepped out on to
the terrace. As he stood there in the darkness, able only to see the
shapes of trees through the fine grey ligh