“Rosamund!”
Rosamund turned. The mute appeal in the girl’s unhappy face touched her. She linked her arm through Linda’s and together they walked away from the hotel, taking the path that led to the extreme end of the island.
Rosamund said gently:
“Try not to mind so much, Linda. I know it’s all very terrible and a shock and all that, but it’s no use brooding over these things. And it can be only the—horror of it, that is worrying you. You weren’t in the least fond of Arlena, you know.”
She felt the tremor that ran through the girl’s body as Linda answered:
“No, I wasn’t fond of her….”
Rosamund went on:
“Sorrow for a person is different—one can’t put that behind one. But one can get over shock and horror by just not letting your mind dwell on it all the time.”
Linda said sharply:
“You don’t understand.”
“I think I do, my dear.”
Linda shook her head.
“No, you don’t. You don’t understand in the least—and Christine doesn’t understand either! Both of you have been nice to me, but you can’t understand what I’m feeling. You just think it’s morbid—that I’m dwelling on it all when I needn’t.”
She paused.
“But it isn’t that at all. If you knew what I know—”
Rosamund stopped dead. Her body did not tremble—on the contrary it stiffened. She stood for a minute or two, then she disengaged her arm from Linda’s.
She said:
“What is it that you know, Linda?”
The girl gazed at her. Then she shook her head.
She muttered:
“Nothing.”
Rosamund caught her by the arm. The grip hurt and Linda winced slightly.
Rosamund said:
“Be careful, Linda. Be damned careful.”
Linda had gone dead white.
She said:
“I am very careful—all the time.”
Rosamund said urgently:
“Listen, Linda, what I said a minute or two ago applies just the same—only a hundred times more so. Put the whole business out of your mind. Never think about it. Forget—forget… You can if you try! Arlena is dead and nothing can bring her back to life… Forget everything and live in the future. And above all, hold your tongue.”
Linda shrank a little. She said: