So the hour passed, and the last minute came.
“Pray for me, Athelstane,” Marian whispered to me, “for I have been a great sinner, and for myself I hardly dare to pray.”
So I knelt down upon the floor, and the blind man opposite me did the same; and as I used the familiar phrases which I had learned unconsciously in my youth from many repetitions, a peace stole over the room, and Rupert’s great sobs ceased to shake him, and the hand I held in my own grew very still and cold. And presently I looked up, and saw that Marian was dead.
CHAPTER XXI
COLONEL CLIVE’S MESSAGE
So now my career in the East Indies was over, and I set my face to return home.
The first person to whom I communicated my intention was Colonel Clive. He was at first astonished, and told me so.