"Do you know that it would be extremely difficult for me to leave home just at present? There are so many people wanting me."
"I know that. I have thought of all that. You cannot go. Let me go, and baby."
"Where, my dear?
"I don't know," she said with almost a sob. "You must know. You must help me, Basil."
Basil looked at her, and took several turns up and down the room, in sorrow and perplexity.
"What is your reason, Di?" he asked gently. "If I understood your thought better, I should know better how to meet it."
"I must be away," said Diana vaguely. "I must not be here. I musn't be where I can see—anybody. Nobody must know where I am, Basil—do you understand? You must send me away, and you must not tell anybody."
The minister walked up and down, thinking. He let go entirely the thought of arguing with Diana. She had the look at moments of a creature driven to bay; and when not so, the haggard, eager, appealing face filled his inmost heart with grief and pity. Nobody better than Basil could manage the unreasonable and bring the disorderly to obedience; he had a magical way with him; but now he only meditated how Diana's wish was to be met. It was not just easy, for he had few family connections in the world, and she had none.
"I can think of nobody to whom I should like to send you," he said.
"Unless"—
He waited, and Diana waited; then he finished his sentence.