"It would be necessary, wouldn't it?"
"I'd rather try to think of some other plan," I replied, and sat racking my wits for some alternative; without avail, however, and presently she got up and walked about the drawing-room.
When she had left us, Nessa stirred uneasily, glanced once or twice at me, and then held out her hand. "I'm—I'm sorry, Jack," she whispered.
"All right; don't worry;" and I just pressed her trembling fingers.
"But to talk to you as I did—all the brutal things I said. I'm so—so ashamed."
"No need. Not the faintest. You couldn't know; and you caught me in the very act of prying into that place there. If you hadn't fired up a bit, it wouldn't have been natural."
"But after you'd run all this risk simply for me, you must have thought me a regular beast, Jack."
"The fact is your mother's worry got on my nerves, and as I knew I could come into this beastly country without any risk to speak of, of course I came. That's all about it."
She didn't quite like this, but I meant her to believe it had been more for her mother's sake than hers.
"Poor mother!" she murmured, and was silent for a while. "You've joined the army then?" was her next question.