He had not seen her face.

Beyond her he had caught a half formed vision of many people and the glistening edge of the sea, and as he lay with closed eyes the murmur of voices came to him.

The support at his back was taken away, slowly, as if the person who held him feared that he would fall.

Nathaniel stiffened himself to show his returning strength and opened his eyes again.

This time the pain was not so great.
A few yards away he saw a group of people and among them were women; still farther away, so far that his brain grew dizzy as he looked, there was a black moving crowd.