"May I see him?" she asked in a whisper.
The answer was given by Basil himself, who came forward and took her by the hand, while the light, directed by Old Corrie, shone upon his face.
"It is wonderful, wonderful!" she exclaimed, and added under her breath, "But I think I should have known."
In the expression of which opinion she paid a higher tribute to her judgment than she could have rightly claimed for it; but this, at such a time and in such circumstances, was a small matter.
Mr. Philpott, who had been standing silently in the rear, now joined the party.
"Don't be frightened, my dear," said Old Corrie; "there are no more of us. What we've got to do now is to decide what is to be done, how is it to be done, and when is it to be done."
"First," interposed Mr. Philpott, to whom, by tacit consent, the command had been given, "Miss Emily will perhaps give us an explanation of certain words she spoke a minute ago. Are we quite private here, Miss Emily?"
"It's hardly likely," replied Emily, "that a living soul will pass along this road till daybreak."
"So much the better. You said just now that Miss Bidaud's heart was breaking, but that you had good news for her before she went to sleep to-night. Did you mean by that that our arrival here was the good news?"
"No, I meant something very different, something that you ought to know before you decide what to do."