Page:Fletcher--Where Highways Cross.djvu/141

 "I'm afraid to hear that—that he was killed," she said, "Sometimes I have a feeling that I shall see him again, and it gets so strong that I feel quite happy, and even light-hearted. And yet—I'm sure it's only because I wish that it could be so."

"Would it not be better for your peace of mind if you knew the worst or the best?" he said.

"The worst or the best?" she repeated. "Yes, sir, perhaps it would. But, oh! what if it's the worst, Mr. Hepworth, what if it's the worst?" Hepworth said no more of the matter at that time, but after some days Elisabeth referred to it, and told him that she had been thinking it over, and had decided that it would be well to gain definite news if possible. Hepworth was secretly pleased that she should come to this decision. He felt that it might make matters plainer between them. After talking the matter over with Elisabeth, he wrote on her behalf to the