‘Have you ever heard of Gilles de Rais?’ said Dr Porhoet, continuing his reflections.  ’That is the classic instance of human sacrifice.  I know the country in which he lived; and the peasants to this day dare not pass at night in the neighbourhood of the ruined castle which was the scene of his horrible crimes.’

’It’s awful to know that this dreadful danger hangs over her, and to be able to do nothing.’

‘We can only wait,’ said Dr Porhoet.

‘And if we wait too long, we may be faced by a terrible catastrophe.’

’Fortunately we live in a civilized age.  Haddo has a great care of his neck.  I hope we are frightened unduly.’

It seemed to Susie that the chief thing was to distract Arthur, and she turned over in her mind some means of directing his attention to other matters.

’I was thinking of going down to Chartres for two days with Mrs Bloomfield,’ she said.  ’Won’t you come with me?  It is the most lovely cathedral in the world, and I think you will find it restful to wander about it for a little while.  You can do no good, here or in London.  Perhaps when you are calm, you will be able to think of something practical.’

Dr Porhoet saw what her plan was, and joined his entreaties to hers that Arthur should spend a day or two in a place that had no associations for him.  Arthur was too exhausted to argue, and from sheer weariness consented.  Next day Susie took him to Chartres.  Mrs Bloomfield was no trouble to them, and Susie induced him to linger for a week in that pleasant, quiet town.  They passed many hours in the stately cathedral, and they wandered about the surrounding country.  Arthur was obliged to confess that the change had done him good, and a certain apathy succeeded the agitation from which he had suffered so long.  Finally Susie persuaded him to spend three or four weeks in Brittany with Dr Porhoet, who was proposing to revisit the scenes of his childhood.  They returned to Paris.  When Arthur left her at the station, promising to meet her again in an hour at the restaurant where they were going to dine with Dr Porhoet, he thanked her for all she had done.

‘I was in an absurdly hysterical condition,’ he said, holding her hand.  ’You’ve been quite angelic.  I knew that nothing could be done, and yet I was tormented with the desire to do something.  Now I’ve got myself in hand once more.  I think my common sense was deserting me, and I was on the point of believing in the farrago of nonsense which they call magic.  After all, it’s absurd to think that Haddo is going to do any harm to Margaret.  As soon at I get back to London, I’ll see my lawyers, and I daresay something can be done.  If he’s really mad, we’ll have to put him under restraint, and Margaret will be free.  I shall never forget your kindness.’

Susie smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

She was convinced that he would forget everything if Margaret came back to him.  But she chid herself for the bitterness of the thought.  She loved him, and she was glad to be able to do anything for him.