"That is a fortnight off.... Do you think you could persuade him to come down here next week instead? I should like you to see him for yourself: or even sooner."
She was still hopelessly confused with these apparent alternations. She still wondered whether Mr. Cathcart were as mad as he seemed. They turned, as the village came in sight ahead, up the hill.
"Next week? I could try," she said mechanically. "But I don't understand--"
He held up a gloved hand.
"Wait till you have seen him," he said. "For myself, I shall make a point of seeing Mr. Morton every day to hear the news.... Miss Deronnais, I tell you plainly that you alone will have to bear the weight of all this, unless Mrs. Baxter--"
"Oh, do explain," she said almost irritably.
He looked at her with those irresistibly twinkling eyes, but she perceived a very steady will behind them.
"I will explain nothing at all," he said, "now that I have seen you, and heard what you think, except this single point. What you have to be prepared for is the news that Mr. Baxter has suddenly gone out of his mind."
It was said in exactly the same tone as his previous sentences, and for a moment she did not catch the full weight of its meaning. She stopped and looked at him, paling gradually.
"Yes, you took that very well," he said, still meeting her eyes steadily. "Stop.... Keep a strong hold on yourself. That is the worst you have to hear, for the present. Now tell me immediately whether you think Mrs. Baxter should be informed or not."
Her leaping heart slowed down into three or four gulping blows at the base of her throat. She swallowed with difficulty.
"How do you know--"
"Kindly answer my question," he said. "Do you think Mrs. Baxter--"
"Oh, God! Oh, God!" sobbed Maggie.
"Steady, steady," said the old man. "Take my arm, Miss Deronnais."
She shook her head, keeping her eyes fixed on his.
He smiled in his grey beard.
"Very good," he said, "very good. And do you think--"
She shook her head again.
"No: not one word. She is his mother. Besides--she is not the kind--she would be of no use."
"Yes: it is as I thought. Very well, Miss Deronnais; you will have to be responsible. You can wire for me at any moment. You have my address?"