Her sympathy was roused at once.
‘What worries, dear? Tell me of them. Can I do nothing to help you out of them?’
He coloured slightly under his dark skin as he stretched himself and said,—
‘Nothing—nothing. They are matters of a purely private nature. But you know how I detest the coloured people, Liz. It is sufficiently annoying to me to be employed amongst the brutes all day long, without having to listen to a story of their grievances when my work is over. I come here for rest, not to talk about niggers.’
‘Yes, I know, Henri, and it makes me happy to hear you say that you expect to find rest with me. But if you saw them suffer as I do, you could not fail to feel for them. Have you been very busy lately?’
‘Pretty well. Why do you ask?’
‘Because it is a week since you have been at the cottage.’
‘You must be mistaken. I have called here several times when you were out. There’s no finding you at home now-a-days, Liz.’
‘I have been very much occupied, I know,’ she answered quietly, ‘but not so much so as to make me forget that you have not been here, Henri.’
The remembrance of what Captain Norris had repeated to her recurred to her mind, and on the spur of the moment she determined to learn the truth.