"
The girl, who had been enjoying the ecstasy of swift motion through the
bitter weather, glanced up at him with pain in her eyes.
"Where?" she asked.
"To the Indian frontier. We are going to be special unpaid unofficial
members of the Intelligence Department."
She asked the old, timid woman's question about danger.
"It's where Lewis was before. Only, you see, things have got into a
mess thereabouts, and the Foreign Office has asked him to go out again.
By the by, you mustn't tell any one about this, for it's in strict
confidence."
The words were meaningless, and yet they sent a pang through her heart.
Had he no guess at her inmost feelings? Could he think that she would
talk to Mr. Stocks of a thing which was bound up for her with all the
sorrow and ecstasy of life?
He looked down and saw that her face had paled and that her mouth was
drawn with some emotion. A sudden gleam of light seemed to break in
upon him.
"Are you sorry?" he asked half-unwittingly.
For answer the girl turned her tragic eyes upon him, tried to speak, and
faltered. He cursed him-self for a fool and a brute, and whipped up an
already over-active horse, till it was all but unmanageable. It was a
wise move, for it absorbed his attention and gave the poor child at his
side a chance to recover her composure.
They came to Glenavelin gates and George turned in.
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