SCENE XI
“MY LIFE FOR HIS!”
When Lady Tintagel stepped out on to the balcony and took her stand beside the telescope, a deathly sense of faintness almost overcame her. She gripped the balustrade to keep herself from falling.
Gradually she revived in the fresh morning air.
Then she adjusted the telescope and focussed it on the dark head in the water.
The powerful lens brought the swimmer so near, that it seemed as if she had but to put out her hand to touch him.
He was swimming in direct line between herself and the rising sun. The water through which he moved, sparkled and glittered. She could see every strand of his wet hair, her wedding-ring on his brown finger.
She marked the strong, quick strokes. Rapidly he put distance between himself and the shore. She had to keep adjusting the focus to hold him near.
“Oh God,” she prayed, “do not let him do this thing. Do not let him drown. If a life must be given, my life for his. Oh, by the mercy of Christ, my life for his!”
She saw the wild birds swoop above him.
After a while he began to flag. She watched him fold his arms, turn upon his back, and lie, like a tired child, upon the bosom of the sparkling ocean.