She was in such a state of physical collapse after the service that she did not send for him until the second day following. He came timidly even then, for he was at a loss how to comfort her, vividly conscious as he was of his own guilt and shame. He found her crouched upon one of the old stone benches in the garden in the full hot glare of the sun. It relieved him to find that she had lost her unnatural self-control, having fallen, it seemed, into much the same mood he would have expected in any woman. It had been so hard to find what to say heretofore—for she was braver than those about her and her grief was so deep as to render words of comfort futile. Her eyes now were heavy and full of haunting shadows, her ivory cheeks were pale, her lips tremulous, and she seemed at last to crave sympathy.
"I do not know why I have summoned you," she said, leaving her hand in his, "unless it is because my loneliness has begun and I lack the courage to face it."
"I have been waiting. It will always be so, Contessa. I shall come from across the world whenever you need me."
She smiled listlessly. "You are very good. I knew you were waiting. It seems so strange to know that he is gone"—her voice caught, her eyes filled, then cleared without overflowing—"and that the world is moving on again in the same way and only I am left standing by the wayside. You cannot wait with me; you must move on with the rest of the world. You had planned to go home, and you must, for you have your work and it calls you."
"Please don't think of it. I sha'n't leave you for a long time. I promised Martel—"
"You promised? Then he had reason to suspect?"
"He would not acknowledge the possibility, and yet he must have had a premonition."
"Oh, why will men trust themselves when women know! If he had told me, if he had confided his fears to me, I could have told him what to do."
"I couldn't leave now, even if I wished, for I might be needed by the—the law. You understand? It isn't finished with me yet."
"The law will not need you," she told him bitterly. "The law will do nothing. The task is for other hands."