"They're killed!" she cried.
Terrington had sprung to his feet as she burst in upon him.
"Who are?" he demanded.
"Lewis and Sir Colvin," she panted, "and ... and most of the others. All but six or seven of them. Mr. Langford's there, but he's simply hacked; and all the men are streaming."
A long thin wail broke from her with the horror of what she had seen, and she covered her eyes with both her hands.
Terrington had stepped towards the doorway as he realized the significance of what she had seen. She put herself sharply in front of him, her head flung fiercely back.
"What are you going to do?" she demanded. "You let them go like that, you made them go like that! That's what's done it all! You wouldn't let them take the men! Aren't you going to try to save them? They mayn't be dead! Don't you think they mayn't be dead? If only you'll go at once; this moment! Take every one and smash them. Don't you think it's possible; just possible? And it wasn't I who did it, was it? was it really?"
He laid a hand upon her shoulder to put her aside.
"No, child," he said gently; "you had nothing to do with it."
As he would have passed out, leaping footsteps sounded on the stairs, and Captain Walcot almost dashed into his arms.