He squared his lips. “I don't like the sound of this shorter route. I want to know more about it.”
As he made a step toward her, she dodged and broke from him, dashing toward the cliff. On the very edge he caught her. She struggled dangerously, but he stumbled back with her crushed against him.
“You little fool!”
She lay quiet, her face pressed against his cheek. Then she fell to sobbing.
“What difference would it make? Why wouldn't you let me do it?”
IV
Why wouldn't he? It was the question he himself was asking. He had done nothing humane in preventing her. He had merely spared his own feelings. If she had succeeded, he would have found himself in an ugly situation. He would have been suspected of a crime similar to hers. There would have been no evidence to hang him, but he could never have established his innocence. He looked down at the woman shuddering in his arms, for all the world as though he were her lover. He had been within an ace of inheriting her isolation.
“I didn't let you do it—” He hesitated. Then he took the plunge. “Because I intend to save you.”
She stirred. She glanced up at him. As her eyes met his, their expression of wonder gave way to one of gratitude. She strove to reach his lips, but he restrained her.
“Promise me you'll live.”