"You're
right," she said, "we must get her out of this house at once. Forgive
me."
Phillips had been called up north and wired that he would not be able to
get down till the Wednesday evening. Joan met him at the station.
"She won't be expecting you, just yet," she explained. "We might have a
little walk."
She waited till they had reached a quiet road leading to the hills.
"You will find her changed," she said. "Mentally, I mean. Though she
will try not to show it. She was dying for your sake--to set you free.
Hilda seems to have had a talk with her and to have spared her no part of
the truth. Her great love for you made the sacrifice possible and even
welcome. It was the one gift she had in her hands. She was giving it
gladly, proudly. So far as she was concerned, it would have been kinder
to let her make an end of it. But during the last few days I have come
to the conclusion there is a law within us that we may not argue with.
She is coming back to life, knowing you no longer want her, that she is
only in the way. Perhaps you may be able to think of something to say or
do that will lessen her martyrdom.
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