His voice gave me the answer, but I saw no way of bringing home to him that he and his wife were less than nothing to her at this moment.
"You can only try," I said. "I've seen her at 'The Sanctuary' with O'Rane and Grayle, I've seen her in Milford Square by herself——"
He looked at his watch and turned to me excitedly.
"Look here, I can't be in two places at once and I must get down to my wife. Will you—I've no claim on you; I ask it, because I can't help myself—will you go to Sonia, insist on seeing her, tell her of our meeting to-night and beg her—in her mother's name—and mine——"
His faltering sentences lagged and halted until they stopped altogether.
"If you wish me to," I said.
"I can never thank you enough! I pray you'll never be in a similar position, but if you are——"
"Don't build extravagant hopes on it," I warned him again.
When I had seen him into a taxi, I drove to Milford Square with profound and momentarily increasing distaste for my mission. I felt instinctively that it was foredoomed to failure; I knew that, two hours after I had failed, the Daintons would be staring blankly at each other or pacing nervously up and down the room, refusing—despite my repeated warning—to abandon hope until my failure had been confessed. And I knew that I must see Mrs. O'Rane alone—which Grayle would try to prevent—and make an emotional appeal—which I was ill-equipped for doing....