Wilders face to face.
"You--!" she gasped out, but instantly checked the exclamation of
chagrin and dismay that rose to her lips.
"You hardly expected to see me, perhaps; but I was miraculously
saved."
McKay spoke slowly, and the delay gave Mrs. Wilders time to collect
herself.
"I am most thankful. It has lifted a load off my mind. I feared you
were lost."
"Yes; the sea seldom gives up its prey. But enough about myself. You
are going in to see the general, I think; do not let me detain you."
"I shall be very pleased to see you on board the yacht."
"Thank you, Mrs. Wilders; I am sure you will. But to me such a visit
would be very painful. My last recollections of the _Arcadia_ are not
too agreeable."
"Of course not. You were so devoted to my poor dear husband."
Mrs. Wilders would not acknowledge his meaning.
"But I shall see you again before I leave, I trust."
"My stay here is very short. I am only on a special mission, and I
must return to the Crimea without delay. But we shall certainly meet
again some day, Mrs. Wilders; you may rely on that."
There was meaning, menace even, in this last speech, and it gave Mrs.
Wilders food for serious thought.
McKay did not pause to say more. He was too eager to go elsewhere.
His first visit, as in duty bound, had been to report his arrival and
set on foot the business that had brought him.
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