I am a coward!" He sank down in a chair and buried his bearded face in his hands.

No one contradicted him or made any effort at comfort.
Claire, deathly pale, still crouched forward, staring blindly at the moveless white figure at the head of the path.
"Peace to his soul!" said Brice, in a hushed voice, adding under his breath: "If he had one!" Then, laying his hand gently on Claire's arm, he drew her away from the window and shut the blinds on the sight which had so horrified them.
"Go and lie down, Miss Standish," he bade her.

"This has been an awful thing for you or any other woman to look on.

Take a double dose of aromatic spirits of ammonia, and tell one of the maids to bring you some black coffee ....

Do as I say, please!" he urged, as she looked mutely at him and made no move to obey.