“The hour is noon,” I said quietly, “and I beg that they will not keep me waiting.”
Arrived in the open air, for the first time I remembered that I had not as yet seen the gigantic figure of Sampson Dare; and encountering the youth Martin, I asked what had become of him.
He looked up for a moment from his task.
“He is not here,” he said, scowling.
“I asked you where he was,” I answered dryly.
“In London, then, if it will please you,” he retorted sullenly.
“Ah!” was all I said in reply. And turning on my heel, I left him. But I understood perfectly upon what errand the man had gone, and I saw by this, even if I had not received ample proof already, that my lady was not a woman to let the grass grow under her feet. Doubtless she had powerful friends in London whom she trusted to interest government on her behalf. If so, I thought, time alone will show whether her confidence was misplaced.
For the present, at least, I held the winning cards.
From the stables I took the first broad path, and finally came to the cliffs, where I stumbled upon the little path which we had ascended fourteen days previously in the darkness and storm.
And the longer I looked at it, the more I wondered that our attempt on such a night had not ended in disaster. Even by daylight it was no pleasant task to tread the narrow ledge, as I discovered for myself when I essayed to make the descent. No pleasant knowledge, that a single slip or a momentary giddiness would precipitate me into the sapphire sea, slumbering peacefully a hundred feet below.