looked at her with a kind of despair for her feminine
obtuseness. "That is quite out of the question," he said, "and
Charteris knows it. If he went on, it would be----"

"You don't mean that Marian will never know where her husband is
buried--never be able to visit his grave?"

"It is highly probable. My dear young lady, what can it signify where
our vile bodies lie? They are in God's keeping, whether cast out on
the face of the ground or laid in a churchyard at home."

"Oh, don't!" Honour could have shaken Sir Edmund. "Can't you see?
Oh, please don't say anything of that kind to Marian, as if she had not
enough to bear already."

"I do not think I introduced the subject----"

"I must see how poor Marian is," interrupted Honour, and left him
hastily. She had a momentary vision of her sister sobbing in Lady
Antony's arms, but a warning hand upraised forbade her to enter the
room, and she returned unwillingly to Sir Edmund, who had forgotten all
about the difference of opinion in the hurry of his thoughts.

"I shall go down to-morrow night," he said, as though speaking to
himself. "I cannot be sure of James when it is a question of keeping
these young fellows in order. Charteris must return at once, of
course, and one can only hope that he may not have done irreparable
harm."

"What harm could he do, with only a few men, against Sher Singh's whole
army?" demanded Honour.

"The harm of making it appear that the case has been prejudged. Sher
Singh may have been innocent of all but cowardice, but to send an army
against him without inquiry will force him in self-defence to throw
himself into the arms of the war-party. He must be approached without
show of force, and his life guaranteed to him if he will consent to
submit his conduct to an impartial court of inquiry--such as the Durbar
here."

"You think only of Sher Singh!" cried Honour hotly. "I think of poor
Charley murdered, without a finger raised to save him. I want Sher
Singh punished--do you hear?" with a stamp of her foot--"and I hope Mr
Charteris will do it, and not care what orders you send him!"

Sir Edmund had been looking at her as though she were a pigmy viewed
from a mountain-top, so she told herself indignantly, but now his eyes
flashed, and a tinge of colour crept into his sallow, haggard face.
"If, as I understand, you have some influence with Mr Charteris, I
would advise you, for his sake, not to make him acquainted with your
view