“His condition makes no difference,” she answered, reading the address he handed to her before putting the paper away. “Ill or well, it doesn’t affect the main point.”
“I know,” he said. “But you ought to ascertain what you can before taking any decisive step. Then, if you wish to see him, I will take you there.”
At this suggestion, which she had not before considered, she glanced at him in quick dismay.
“I don’t think—I could go to him,” she said, hesitating nervously. “I... He must come home.”
“That, of course,” Dare answered, infinitely relieved, “is as you wish.”
The possibility of Arnott consenting to return occurred to him as very unlikely.
“You’ve got to face the chance of his refusal,” he added abruptly. He leaned towards her. “If he refuses, Pamela?—He may, you know.”
She turned to him and laid a hand impulsively upon his arm.
“Don’t tempt me to hope he will do that,” she said. “Be strong for both of us... I want you to be strong.”
He took her face in his hands and held it for a moment looking deeply into her eyes.