"I'm going to have my say. I'll say it afterwards, or I'll say it now. It's all the same to me."
"What do you mean by you're going to have your say?"
"If you're ready, I'll let it out. But don't mind me. Don't let me spoil your appointment. Keep anything you've got to keep."
Mrs. Carruth seemed to be at a loss to know what to do. Her looks were eloquent witnesses as to what she would have done if she could. But, apparently, she did not see her way to do it. She temporised.
"If there is anything of importance, Mr. Haines, which you wished to say to me, perhaps you will be so good as to say it as briefly as you can, now. Possibly it will not detain you, at the utmost, more than a quarter of an hour."
"Possibly it will not. I rather reckon you'll have a word to say in that. It won't all be for me." Mr. Haines brought his eyes down to the level of the lady's face. He spread out his hands upon his knees. He looked at her very straight. "What I have to say may be said in about two words. It's just this--I've found my girl."
Mrs. Carruth did not display any great amount of interest, but she did seem to be surprised.
"Indeed! I am glad to hear it. I hope that she is well."
"She is well. She's better than many of us ever will be. She's at rest."
"At rest? How?"