“It would not make any difference.”
“You don’t mean you would go in spite of them!” cried the girl in sudden alarm.
Thorne looked at her gravely and nodded his head.
“But if it were proved that your first orders were a mistake——”
She stretched out her hand toward him, which Thorne clasped closely again.
“But it wasn’t a mistake, and I must go,” he said slowly, rising to his feet once more, but still holding her hand.
“Is it something dangerous?” asked the girl apprehensively.
“Oh, well, enough to make it interesting.”
But Edith did not respond to his well simulated humour. She drew her hand away, and Thorne fancied with a leap of his heart that she did it with reluctance. She began softly:
“Don’t be angry with me if I ask you again about your orders. I must know.”