"How long will you be?" he said.
"I can't say. Half-an-hour—three-quarters—ever so long."
He waited for an hour, walking up and down, up and down the long road under the trees. She reappeared as he was turning at the far end of it. He had to run to overtake her.
Her face had on it the agony of unborn tears.
"What is it, Jinny?" he said.
"Mabel Brodrick."
She hardly saw his gesture of exasperation.
"Oh, George, she suffers. It's terrible. There's to be an operation—to-morrow. I can think of nothing else."
"Oh, Jinny, is there no one to take care of you? Is there no one to keep you from that woman?"
"Oh don't—if you had seen her——"