Upon landing she was told that no coach ran till the arrival of the next steamer, an hour later. So she started on foot, leaving her bag to follow by coach. She set out at a good pace, but very soon her fears made the slowness of walking unbearable, and she broke into a run. She ran till her breath came in agonizing gasps and she was forced to walk again. She was not to worry … It was probably only a bad cold, or perhaps another gastric attack like the one at the time of the removal – nothing really serious. But the question was, would she get there in time? If she went on walking she would be too late. So she ran again. And so she kept on running and then walking, and then running again – but mostly running – all the way along the winding, coast road, with her eyes continuously dazzled by the glittering morning sea. She had about four miles to go.

At last. There was the cottage! It was the very end one at the far-away end of a row of small, white cottages, some thatched, some slated, which stood only about half a mile ahead round the bay. Everything looked as it had looked on the morning, little more than a week before, when Joanna had left for London. The peat smoke rose comfortingly from the chimneys into the pale blue sky: dogs barked: children were playing on the road between the cottages and the sea.

And there was Linnet!

He waved his hand, shouted, disappeared into the cottage, and in less than half a minute came out again and began running towards her.

Joanna waved and ran faster. It was all right after all. She need really not have worried, Linnet would not wave and shout if mother was dead. He must have dashed into the cottage just to tell her.

“I knew you would come,” – Linnet’s first words clashed with the sighing – “How is she?” that came from his sister as they both sped on without pausing a moment.

“She’ll be as right as rain now you are here,” he said soothingly (but with what relief!) as he took the breathless Joanna’s arm … “She was so pleased when your wire came.” And he told how their mother had been well – never in her life better – and in splendid spirits, till three days ago when she had been taken ill in the night with bad pains. In the morning she had been better, but worse again towards evening. It had only been yesterday morning, that he had gone, without telling her, to fetch the doctor. Mother had been cross. She was positive a strange doctor couldn’t understand her constitution, but she had been glad to see him all the same, and had taken his medicine. But this morning, all of a sudden, she had seemed rather low. It was good that Joanna had come to nurse her.