" But Jane heard and understood.
"Promise," said the child.
"Yes, I promise," answered Beatrice in the same inaudible whisper.
"Sleep, dear, sleep; I will join you very soon."
And the child looked up, shivered, smiled--and slept.
Beatrice gave it back to the weeping parents and went her way. "What a
splendid creature," said the doctor to himself as he looked after her.
"She has eyes like Fate, and the face of Motherhood Incarnate. A great
woman, if ever I saw one, but different from other women."
Meanwhile Beatrice made her way to old Edward's boat-shed. As she
expected, there was nobody there, and nobody on the beach. Old Edward
and his son were at tea, with the rest of Bryngelly. They would come
back after dark and lock up the boat-house.
She looked at the sea. There were no waves, but the breeze freshened
every minute, and there was a long slow swell upon the water. The
rollers would be running beyond the shelter of Rumball Point, five miles
away.
The tide was high; it mounted to within ten yards of the end of the
boat-house. She opened the door, and dragged out her canoe, closing
the door again after her.
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