lent ship the other
side of the basin. He saw nothing but the pointing Finger, the Finger
that pointed away from the course he had marked out for himself. He felt
uplifted, glad, as one who has escaped a great peril. Was his Nelly to
suffer the torture of an engagement to a man who would presently be
every hour in danger of a horrible death? Was she, poor child, to suffer
like Mrs. Sayers? like poor old Mrs. Mordaunt? No. She must be saved
from the possibility of that.

He would say nothing. He would have to endure the looks she would send
him from under her white eyelids, the looks of wistful entreaty. After
all, he had not _said_ he was going to do anything. He had implied it,
to be sure, but he had not committed himself to anything very definite.
Perhaps Nelly would not discover, for a time at least, the dangerous
service Langrishe had gone on. She was no more fond of the newspapers
than any other young girl. For the moment he was grateful to the Dowager
that she claimed so much of Nelly's time.

He began to look forward with a fearful anticipation to Nelly's marriage
to her cousin. Something must be settled at once, before she could begin
to grieve over Langrishe. He would be alone, of course, but Nelly would
be in harbour. He did so much justice to Robin that he believed her
happiness would be safe with him. He felt as if he must go home and put
matters in train at once. He was impatient till Nelly was safe. It did
not occur to him that he was, perhaps, once more wresting the conduct of
his daughter's happiness from the Hand in Whose guidance he humbly
trusted.

He awoke with a start to the fact that he had been more than half an
hour pacing along by the water's edge. He hurried back to the hotel.
Fortunately, his chop was not put on the grill till he returned, and it
was served to him piping hot, with tomatoes and a bottle of Burton.
Rather to his amazement, he enjoyed it thoroughly, but when he had
finished it he had still more than an hour to wait.

He drove across country to another station, and arrived home early in
the afternoon. During the return journey his mind was quite calm and
unperturbed. He had had the guidance he needed, and now he had only to
let things be--as though it were in his character to let things be!

He dreaded meeting Nelly's eyes and welcomed the Dowager's presence with
effusion. He suggested to the lady that she should dine, and afterwards
they would visit a theatre--_A Soldier's L