When she awoke again it was to find her father sitting by her side.
She started up from the couch, for the moment unable to realise the situation. At first she thought she was back in the hotel in Manchester, but in a few seconds she realised the truth.
"Father!" she exclaimed.
"Yes, Mary. I felt sure you'd come here. Directly I could get away I came as fast as I could, but the trains are terribly slow. I've only been here a few minutes."
For a few seconds there was a silence between them. Each seemed to know all that the other was thinking.
"I felt I must have a talk with you, Mary," said Judge Bolitho at length. "There are so many things to say, and so many things to do. Could I stay here to-night, I wonder? I must go back to Manchester again to-morrow morning."
"Why, father?"
"Of course you have read the newspapers. You know what took place in Manchester this morning?"
He spoke calmly and collectedly now. In one sense it seemed as though a great burden had been lifted from his mind. From the way he spoke, too, he might regard his confession as of little import.
"Father," cried the girl, "it's so bewildering, so terrible!"