But now, having suddenly made up his mind, he was in a tremendous hurry. He must act. He must even oppose Jessica, if need be — must use decision, cunning, worldly wisdom, a host of qualities strange to him. “Leni, my dear — you can’t wait till to-morrow — you’ve got to get away now — to-night!”

She was kneeling on the floor of the attic room, packing clothes into a bag.

“But — why?”

“It’s in the paper. England and Germany may be at war by midnight. That means you must get away. You must go back — to Germany — at once — before anything can happen —”

“But I can’t — I —”

“I tell you you must get out of England — somewhere — anywhere. Don’t you realize what it’ll be like if you stay? Already they’re arresting and imprisoning people. Hurry now and finish packing — we have to leave at once.”

“We?”

“Of course. I’m going to help you. We’ve missed the last train, but there’s one from Marsland that goes at ten to twelve — we can get there somehow —”

“We?”

“Yes, yes — I’m going to take you to a seaport and arrange for you to get away in time — so hurry, please hurry …” And so he talked on. She didn’t want to go and finally she was hysterical. He calmed her and after about an hour they went downstairs and through the surgery into the narrow path flanked by the white sea shells. There the sight of his bicycle leaning against the wall gave him both confidence and a new access of caution. “You mustn’t be seen leaving the town, especially with me, so this is what we must do … Now let me think — it’s almost dusk — you take the path to the Knoll and wait for me by the wooden hut — you remember it? We’ll meet there and go on — I’ll take the long way round by the lane —”

She hesitated a moment, then nodded. As soon as she had gone, the path between the high walls seemed an empty canyon, and in his own heart an equal emptiness gave answer. He must help her out of the country. He must act. He must be forceful and yet remain calm. So he waited to light his pipe, waited after that for a whole minute by his watch, and then, wheeling the bicycle, emerged into the street.

Through the quiet streets off Briargate and into Lissington Lane the little doctor hastened, full of the strange sensation of having decided to do something at last. He thought he was clever to have arranged to meet Leni at the wooden hut, because it was dark there, and no one would see their faces. And it was clever of him also, he thought, to have arranged separate journeys to the rendezvous, for while no one would think much of seeing either of them alone, the pair of them might be (indeed, in the past, had been) gossiped about. So he cycled along, slowly because of the steepness, making a short cut to the edge of the town, where, a little way along the lane, a field path led to the Knoll. He would have to wheel his bicycle there, along the zigzag path over the quarry, and so to the wooden hut in the dark part of the woods.