Had Carmel been discovered on the road leading from this place?
You perceive that by this time I had become the prey of every threatening possibility; even of that which made the present a nightmare from which I should yet wake to old conditions and old struggles, bad enough, God knows, but not like this--not like this.
Meantime I was conscious that not a look or movement of mine had escaped the considerate but watchful eye of the man before me.
"You do not relish my questions," he dryly observed.

"Perhaps you would rather tell your story without interruption.

If so, I beg you to be as explicit as possible.

The circumstances are serious enough for perfect candour on your part." He was wrong.

They were too serious for that.