He stood like a man that has seen some Gorgon’s head and has in the act of vision been turned to stone. His lips were parted, and one of his hands was half way up to his head, and the dust with which his features were powdered gave him the look of a being that was not of flesh and blood. Then I saw his chin go up, and I turned to the door. A moment later I was descending the stairs. One thing had to be done, and done at once. Marya’s ship was afire. It was no good her winning her action if she was to be consumed. The fire must be put out at once – before it could spread. So I went out to do murder, if you can call it such. George, of course, could do nothing. For if he was to play the hangman, he could hardly expect to marry the widow that he had made. Any woman must have recoiled from so grisly a bed. Now I was so bent upon my purpose that I forgot my handcuffs until I slipped on the stairs and sought to stretch out a hand to lay hold of the banisters. At once my embarrassment hit me between the eyes.
