If I escaped from the house undiscovered, with only that half-stupid little woman downstairs, I would rush across the moors home--call my servant on some pretext as soon as I got in, and ask her the time.

Then I should be quite safe--could defy everybody.

Make it ten o'clock, then! No--too long to be safe.

It might be discovered.
"It is strange how quickly the brain works when the instinct of self-preservation is aroused.

These thoughts flashed through my mind in a kind of mental lightning.