The rain had almost ceased; Esmay made a movement to depart.
"There is nothing—no way in which I can serve you?" he asked.
She shook her head. "Nothing. I am going back to Arcadia House, but I shall have Nanna with me. There is nothing to fear."
He regarded her fixedly. "What can you do against Quinton Edge? He is the master—our master."
"I do not know; I have not thought. But I can watch and I can wait."
"Waiting! If that were all——"
"No, no! it could not be." She colored hotly, and he stopped, abashed.
"You must go now," she went on, gently. "Ulick, dear Ulick, I am sending you away, but, indeed, it is better so. And I shall remember—always."
He would have spoken again, but something in her face restrained him. He bent and kissed her reverently, as a brother might, and went out. And she, watching him go, found her vision suddenly blurred by a mist of tears. For there is something in every woman's heart that pleads a true man's cause, for all that she may not accept the gift he proffers.
Nanna had disappeared into the house some few minutes before; now she returned from her journey of discovery, wearing an expression of gravity quite new to her. "Come," she said, "I want to show you something."