Carew patted the neck of her horse for a moment without answering, then he looked up slowly and at sight of his face the laughter died out of her eyes.
“Keep your man in sight when you come to the woods again, Lady Geradine,” he said gravely. She looked at him questioningly.
“Do you mean it—seriously? I thought that so close to Algiers—”
“You were close to Algiers before, and I would not warn you if I did not mean it seriously,” he interrupted with a touch of irritation in his voice, and stepped back with a salaam that she felt to be almost a dismissal. And it was without waiting to watch her ride away that he strode across the clearing to his own horse. He had no intention of accompanying her back to Algiers, he had outraged his principles sufficiently for one morning he assured himself with a smile that was not mirthful.
Nor did he feel inclined to return immediately to the villa.
During these last few weeks he had grown almost to hate it. He would go on to Bouzaréa, telephone to Sanois and spend the rest of the day at the little suburb with a French doctor of his acquaintance. Perhaps in Morel’s laboratory he would be able to forget the unrest that this morning’s meeting had revived so poignantly.
It was late in the afternoon when he rode into Algiers to keep the appointment made over the telephone that morning.
At the moment General Sanois was living in barracks and Carew found him in his private room sitting alone before a huge desk that was heaped with a mass of papers. At his entrance the general rose and held out a welcoming hand.
“Well,” he said eagerly, “you have decided?” and sank back into his chair with a little exclamation of satisfaction as Carew nodded affirmatively.
“You relieve me of a difficulty, mon cher,” he went on, pushing papers and telephone on one side to make room for the map he spread out with almost affectionate care. “I was at my wits’ end to find a substitute. My own men are no use, an officer would never get past the frontier. And the same applies to the accredited agents—those, that is to say, whom I have at my disposal. Remains you. And I think I shall not be wrong in saying that you will not fail,” he added confidently.