CHAPTER NINEAntony ran into Minnie Mercer in the passage just outside his room—or rather it was she who ran into him, and he who avoided what might have been quite a collision by stepping back just in time. As it was, she blundered against his arm, and he had to catch and steady her, or she would have fallen. It was then that the light from his open door showed him her face, quite white, quite rigid, the eyes fixed and almost colourless. He had not been through five years of war without knowing shock when he saw it. He kept his arm about her, took her into his room, shut the door, and put her into a chair. She did not seem to know what he was doing, but when he said, ‘What is it, Minnie?’ her hands began to tremble. She sat stiffly upright and tried to keep them quiet in her lap, but they
