He came to Dinah. "My dear," he said, and his voice was slightly shaky, "you shouldn't be here."
She stood before him, pillar-like, her two hands clenched against her sides. Her lips were quite livid. They moved soundlessly for several seconds before she spoke. "I--was waiting--for the express."
Her voice was flat and emotionless. It sounded almost as if she were talking in her sleep. And strangely it was that that shocked Scott even more than her appearance. Dinah's voice had always held countless inflections, little notes gay or sad like the trill of a robin. This was the voice of a woman in whom the very last spark of hope was quenched.
It pierced him with an intolerable pain. "Dinah--Dinah!" he said. "For God's sake, child, you don't mean--that!"
Her white, pinched face twisted in a dreadful smile. "Why not?" she said. "There was no other way." And then a sudden quiver as of returning life went through her. "Why did you stop me?" she said. "If you hadn't, it would have been--all over by now."
He put out a quick hand. "Don't say it,--in heaven's name! You are not yourself. Come--come into the wood, and we will talk!"
She did not take his hand. "Can't we talk here?" she said.
He composed himself with an effort. "No, certainly not. Come into the wood!"
He spoke with quiet insistence. She gave him an inscrutable look.
"You think you are going to help me,--Mr. Greatheart," she said, "but I am past help. Nothing you can do will make any difference to me now."
"Come with me nevertheless!" he said.
He laid a gentle hand upon her shoulder, and she winced with a sharpness that tore his heart. But in a moment she turned beside him and began the ascent, slowly, labouringly, as if every step gave her pain. He moved beside her, supporting her elbow when she faltered, steadily helping her on.
They entered the wood, and the desolate sighing of the wind encompassed them. Dinah looked at her companion with the first sign of feeling she had shown.
"I must sit down," she said.
"There is a fallen tree over there," he said, and guided her towards it.
She leaned upon him, very near to collapse. He spread his coat upon the tree and helped her down.
"Now how long is it since you had anything to eat?" he said.