She knelt by his side and pressed her lips to his.
“Forgive me, dear. I was cruel, but I did not understand,” she whispered.
Their eyes met and there was no need for words. Understanding came to them and the past seemed as though it had not been. And she sat by his side, her hand resting on his, but she did not speak.
“You should not have come,” he said reproachfully.
But she leant over and kissed him on the lips.
“I care for nothing so long as I am with you,” she whispered tenderly.
The doctor came in, glanced keenly at his patient, and relief came to his face when he had felt Gaunt’s pulse.
“May I stay? I will be very quiet,” Lady Mildred said appealingly.
“Yes, I think that he is already better, but don’t talk too much,” the doctor said warningly.
Soon Lady Mildred began to think of the future. In her anxiety for her husband’s health, she had forgotten that they were in a war-ship, that had been guilty of acts that might be regarded as piratical.