"No. No, thank you."
"The Angel is only a mile away, and you can rest properly there and — "
"No. No, I can't go as far away as that. I'll drink this cup. It's nice and hot."
Spence gulped down his coffee and paid for it. He hesitated a moment as if reluctant to leave her. "I have to go back to Clare now. You know I shouldn't leave him if he wasn't in good hands, don't you? They'll do more for him than I ever could."
"You've done wonders for all of us," she said. "I shall never forget it."
Now that she had begun drinking the coffee she went on drinking it, and did not look up when the door opened again. It would not be another message from the hospital already, and nothing had any importance for her that was not a message from the hospital. She was surprised when George Peck sat down beside her.
"Spence told me I should find you here."
"George!" she said. "What are you doing in Westover at this hour of the morning?"
"I have come to bring you comfort that Simon is dead."
"Comfort?"