“Please! You must keep quiet!”
“But what is it? Tell me—now!”
“I'm trying to. Mr. Brachey came to the compound the morning after you left—”
“But he gave me his word!”
“You really must let me tell this in my own way. He brought the news of your death. He had it from Pao's yamen. He demanded that we all leave T'ainan at once, with him. If he gave you his word, it is probable that he regarded your death as a release. Well....” For a moment she bent silently over her task of bandaging.
“Yes. Tell me?” Doane's voice was quieter still. More and more, to Boatwright, who stood by the wash-stand lingering a towel, he looked, felt, like the old Griggsby Doane... except his eyes; they were fixed intently on the matting; they were wide open, staring open.
“Well... Mrs. Boatwright felt that it was not yet the time to go. She distrusted this man. So we stayed a few days longer.”
“You are not telling me.”
“Yes. I am coming to it. Betty... Betty felt that she couldn't let him go alone.”
In a hushed, almost a reflective voice Doane asked: “So she came with him?”