“Nobody can help me.”
“Can I take you back to your friends?”
“I have no friends.”
“Pardon me, you have one friend at least—you have me.”
“You? A stranger?”
“No human creature who needs my sympathy is a stranger.”
She turned toward him for the first time. In her new position, she was clearly visible in the light. He looked at her attentively. “I have seen you somewhere,” he said, “before now.”
She had not noticed him when they had passed each other at Sandyseal. “I think you must be mistaken,” she answered. “May I thank you for your kindness? and may I hope to be excused if I say good-night?”
He detained her. “Are you sure that you are well enough to go away by yourself?” he asked anxiously.
“I am quite sure!”