'You walked here in the dark alone?'
'There was no fly to be had. The station-master sent one of his porters with me. We had a talk on the road. I like those men.'
Dacier read the hour by the mantelpiece clock. 'If you must really go by the early train, I will drive you.'
'No, I will walk; I prefer it.'
'I will order your breakfast at once.'
He turned on his heel. She stopped him. 'No, I have no taste for eating or drinking.'
'Pray...' said he, in visible distress.
She shook her head. 'I could not. I have twenty minutes longer. I can find my way to the station; it is almost a straight road out of the park-gates.'
His heart swelled with anger at the household for they treatment she had been subjected to, judging by her resolve not to break bread in the house.
They resumed their silent sitting. The intervals for a word to pass between them were long, and the ticking of the time-piece fronting the death-bed ruled the chamber, scarcely varied.