And he was whirred away in the great car—to the children that needed him, and Idlewood had settled, in its charmed stillness, into the night.... No one would have guessed that it was a state of siege there—the world passed in and out of the big gates—automobiles and drays and foot passengers, winding their way up to the low, rambling house that wandered through the flowers toward the river and the wood. Windows were open everywhere and voices sounded through the garden.
In one of the rooms, darkened to the light, the mistress of the house lay with closed eyes. She could not bear the light, or the sound of voices—listening always to hear a child’s laugh among them—the gay little laugh that ran toward her in every room, and called.
She had shut herself away, and only Philip Harris came to the closed room, bringing her news of the search, or sitting quietly by her in the darkness. But for weeks there had been no news, no clue. The search was baffled.... They had not told her of the Greek boy and the muttered words.
“Better not trouble her,” the physician had urged. “She cannot bear disappointment—if nothing comes of it.”
And no word filtered through to the dim room... and all the clues withdrew in darkness.
Out in the garden Alcibiades and Miss Stone worked among the flowers. It was part of the cure—that they should work there among growing things every day—close to the earth—and his voice sounded happily as they worked.
The woman in the closed room turned her head uneasily. She listened a moment. Then she called.... Marie stood in the doorway.
“Who is there—Marie—in the garden?”
The maid stole to the window and peered through the shutters. She came back to the bed. “It’s a boy,” she said, “a Greek boy—and Miss Stone.”
“Why is he here?” asked the woman, querulously.