In an incredibly quick time, he had made himself ready for the journey, and insisted on taking his seat by my side.
'You sit behind,' he said to Buller, so peremptorily that he seemed like a man in anger. Then turning to me, he said, 'Drive like blazes!'
For the first hour of our return journey, he did not speak a word. He was evidently in deep thought, and his face was as rigid as marble. Then, suddenly, he began to ask questions, questions which at first seemed meaningless. He asked me to describe the scenery around Bolivick, and then he questioned me concerning Sir Thomas Bolivick's household, after which he asked me to give him details concerning every member of the family.
'Have you made up your mind concerning the case?' I asked presently.
'How can I tell until I have examined the man?'
'But you heard what I have told you?'
'And you have told me nothing.'
'It seems to me I have told you a great deal, and I tell you this,
McClure,—if it is within human skill to save him, you must.'
'Aren't I taking this long, beastly midnight journey,' he replied, like a man in anger, 'do you think I am doing this for fun? I say, tell me more about this Edgecumbe; it is necessary that I should have full particulars.'
After I had described our meeting, and our experiences in France, he again sat for some time perfectly silent. He took no notice of what I said to him, and did not even reply to direct questions. But that he was thinking deeply I did not doubt.