At that Diana rose, and in rising staggered. "Then we'll push on at
once," she gasped, as if speech itself were an excruciating effort.

"But you are in no case to stand!" said Ruth. "Sit, Diana, sit."

"Either you go on alone or I go with you, but go at once you must. At
any moment Mr. Wilding may go forth, and your chance is lost. I'll not
have Richard's blood upon my head."

Ruth wrung her hands in her dismay, confronted by a parlous choice.
Consent to Diana's accompanying her in this condition she could not;
ride on alone to Mr. Wilding's house was hardly to be thought of, and
yet if she delayed she was endangering Richard's life. By the very
strength of her nature she was caught in the mesh of Diana's scheme.
She saw that her hesitation was unworthy. This was no ordinary cause,
no ordinary occasion. It was a time for heroic measures. She must
ride on, nor could she consent to take Diana.

And so in the end she went, having seen her cousin settled again in
the high chair, and took with her Diana's feeble assurances that she
would follow her in a few moments, as soon as her faintness passed.



CHAPTER IV
TERMS OF SURRENDER


MR. WILDING rode at dawn with Mr. Trenchard, madam," announced old
Walters, the butler at Zoyland Chase. Old and familiar servant though