He was especially well groomed, whereas Nibbetts was at once leonine, rugged, and nearly shabby. His tawny hair and beard were ragged and uncared for. He gave the impression of having been out of the world in which such things mattered. And this was true.
Having dispensed his hospitality, he reverted to his sneer. He was still standing when he said:
"I assume Mrs. Darling never showed you my letter of six years ago."
His voice aroused the officer, who was in a reverie.
"Your--your letter?" he queried uncertainly.
"My letter from Zanzibar, in which I said I was starting for the world's end."
"And still you refused to believe? How often our wishes guide our reason."
Something of resentment, of indignation, struck a light in Darling's pale eyes, but his voice held to a monotone.
"I couldn't. I--" He hesitated, took a handkerchief from his pocket, and wiped his perspiring brow. "You see, I--I didn't know your hand, and--well, the signature might have been any one's. It was, if I remember, your Christian name only."
"You mean you suspected that Nina was playing you a trick?"
"Others saw it, I suppose? Others that knew me? Those that did know my hand?"
"Yes, I fancy they did. I heard the question discussed."
"The question of the miracle. The question of the dead alive."
Kneedrock's lip curled and his huge shoulders stretched their sinews.
"Huh!" he grunted. "After all, it didn't matter. You'd already married her. You'd already begun to reap tares."
Now the pale eyes of Darling flashed ominously. "You've no right to say that," he said shortly with irritation.
"I'm not alone in saying it," returned the honorable viscount calmly. "I've heard it in the islands of the south seas. You didn't fancy it was a secret, I hope?"
"She's led you a pretty dance, I dare say."
"I understood, too, that the worm had turned? Pray pardon the simile."
Colonel Darling being still silent, Kneedrock smiled.
"I was fool enough to come all the way back here with the idea of punishing you," he pursued. "But I've changed my mind about that. You're getting punishment enough, that's plain. So I am going to thank you instead. I know now what was spared me. Darling, you have my sympathy; you have really."
Darling got suddenly to his feet. "Damn your sympathy!" he cried. "I don't know what you've heard. But I do know it isn't true."