"The bridge took her, you mean."
"No, señor. She left us."
Lovat suddenly straightened up.
"Mason, what do you mean?"
"Señor, when the wind came and the flood, the men quit. The wind shrieked through the arches. The river rose and attacked the piers. And the bridge groaned, and we left. It was the will of God, we thought. He did n't want this chasm joined.
"And I came up toward your house, señor, to see if everything was right there. I met Madame on the path. She had her big black cloak on.
"'You had better go back, señora,' I said.
"'I am going to the bridge,' she said.
"'But it is growing black as night, señora; you had better go back.'
"'Stand aside, Vicente,' was all she said. And there was something in her eyes that made me give way. She went on.