Her eyes met his in an agony of perplexity and distress.  “Oh, no, I cannot think you are right,” she said.  “If I could only see Thalassa—­for five minutes—­”

“What good would that do?” he abruptly demanded.

“He would tell me the truth—­if he knew.”

He shook his head incredulously.  “You do not know all,” he murmured.  He shrank from telling her of the marks on her father’s arm.  “I know Thalassa,” she eagerly replied.  “He would tell me if he thought it would help me.”

“If you think that I will go down and see him—­and get it all out of him.”

“No, no!  You must not go,” she cried in affright.  “It would not be safe for you.”

“Would it be any more dangerous than hiding in London like a skulking rat?” he bitterly replied.  “This cannot go on.  We are both in a dangerous position, and might be arrested at any moment.  What would happen then?  Who would believe my story—­or yours?  They sound improbable even to ourselves.  Here, at least, is a chance of discovering the truth, for I most solemnly believe that Thalassa knows it, or guesses it.  What other chance have we of finding out the hideous mystery of that night?  I must go, Sisily.  I will be careful, for your sake.”

She knew by his voice that he was not to be deterred from the hazardous enterprise, so she did not attempt to dissuade him further.  But she clung to him trembling, as though she would have shielded him from the menace of capture.  He was thinking rapidly.

“It may be that I shall fail,” he said.  “I do not think so, because I shall take every precaution, but the police will be watching for me in Cornwall as well as here.  If I fail—­if I do not come back ... you will understand?”

Her look answered him.

“You had better watch the papers.  And be careful on your own account.”  He eyed her anxiously.  “Do you think you will be safe here till I get back?”

“Yes—­I think so,” she murmured sadly.

“Very well.  I will go down by to-night’s train—­I’ve just time to catch it.”  He glanced at his watch with an assumption of cheerfulness.  “When you wake up in the morning I shall be in Cornwall.”

“I shall not sleep,” she said, in a miserable broken voice.  “I shall lie awake, thinking of you.”

He caught her swiftly in his arms, and kissed her on the lips.  “If I find out the truth, nothing shall come between us then, Sisily?”

“No, nothing,” she said.

He turned with a sudden swift movement as though to go, but she still held him.

“Tell Thalassa ... that I ask him to tell you the truth, if he knows it....”

She released him then, and stood looking after him as he walked from the room and out of the house.

CHAPTER XXVII