"Dr. Anstice, I'm sorry," she said in a low tone; and the pity in her voice nearly broke his heart.
"Miss Wayne--I----"
What he would have said she never knew; for Bruce Cheniston broke in angrily, annoyed by a scene to which he held no key.
"Look here, Iris, we mustn't waste time. Cherry's badly hurt, and since Dr. Anstice can't come someone else must be found. Come along, we'll be off and find another doctor--one who can be relied upon."
The mists were closing in on Anstice once more, the hungry sea which billowed round him threatened to engulf him body and soul. Yet he thought he heard Iris striving to silence Cheniston's cruel words, he could have sworn he saw her eyes, big with tears, shining through the mist which kept him from her; and with a mental effort which turned him cold he spoke once more to her before she left him.
"Miss Wayne ... please don't condemn me altogether ... I did not give in at once ... but this seemed--before God, I thought it was the only way out--to-night...."
And then the miracle happened. Regardless of the man who stood fuming by her side, Iris laid her soft hand on Anstice's arm and spoke one last gentle word.
"Dr. Anstice, I believe you--and good-bye! But--oh, do, do remember--for my sake let me ask you to remember that this is not the true way out!"
And then, as Cheniston took her arm impatiently to lead her away, she smiled through the tears which threatened to blind her, and went out from his presence without one reproachful word.
* * * * *
When she had gone he stood gazing after her for a long moment, and the look in his face would have broken the heart of a woman who had loved him. Then, with a despairing feeling that now nothing mattered in all the world, he sank down again on the couch and let the flood overwhelm him as it would.