The faces of most of them were still
shadowed by the three hours of tense drama from which they had just
emerged. Quest, who had lit a cigar, watched them curiously.
"No need to go into Court," he remarked. "I could have told you, from the
look of these people, that Macdougal had escaped the death sentence. They
have paid their money--or rather their time, and they have been cheated of
the one supreme thrill."
"Imprisonment for life seems terrible enough," Lenora whispered,
shuddering.
"Can't see the sense of keeping such a man alive myself," Quest declared,
with purposeful brutality. "It was a cruel murder, fiendishly committed."
Lenora shivered. Quest laid his fingers for a moment upon her wrist. His
voice, though still firm, became almost kind.
"Never be afraid, Lenora," he said, "to admit the truth. Come, we have
finished with Macdougal now. Imprisonment for life will keep him from
crossing your path again."
Lenora sighed. She was almost ashamed of her feeling of immense relief.
"I am very sorry for him," she murmured. "I wish there were something one
could do."
"There is nothing," Quest replied shortly, "and if there were, you would
not be allowed to undertake it. You didn't happen to notice the way he
looked at you once or twice, did you?"
Once more the terror shone out of Lenora's eyes.
"You are right," she faltered. "I had forgotten."
They were on the point of crossing the pavement towards the automobile
when Quest felt a touch upon his shoulder.
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