The man had stopped because he had seen her, and now when he saw her approaching him a convulsive tremor ran through his powerful frame. For one second he made a movement as if to meet her; but then, raising his long arms with a gesture as if at once embracing her and taking leave of her, he plunged into the shadows of the trees and was lost to view.
The girl stood where he had left her—stood as if turned to stone—for several long minutes, while over her head the misty sky looked down through the branches, and from the open spaces of the park came the harsh cry of sea-gulls flying towards the coast.
Then, with drooping head and dazed expressionless eyes, she walked slowly back, the way she had come.
XXVII
THRENOS
After her encounter with Nance, Mrs. Renshaw, returning to Oakguard, informed both Philippa and Brand of the improvement in the condition of Adrian Sorio.
Philippa received the news quietly enough, conscious that the eyes of her brother were upon her; but as soon as she could get away, which was not till the afternoon was well advanced, she slipped off hastily and directed her steps, by a short cut through the park, to the Rodmoor railway-station. She had one fixed idea now in her mind—the idea of seeing Adrian and talking with him before any interview was allowed to the others.
She knew that her name and her prestige as the sister of the largest local landowner, would win her at any rate respectful consideration for anything she asked—and everything beyond that she left recklessly in the hands of fate.
Baltazar’s death had affected her more than she would herself have supposed possible. She had felt during these last days a sort of malignant envy of her mother, whose attitude towards her friend’s loss was so strange and abnormal.