Till that day his regimental duties had always been placed first with rigorous determination.

Now for the first time he found himself torn by conflicting ties.

The craving for news of her possessed him like a burning thirst.

Yet he knew that some hours must elapse before he could honestly consider himself free to go.
He called an orderly at last, finding the suspense unendurable, and gave him a scribbled line to carry to his wife.
"Is all well, sweetheart?
Send back word by bearer," he wrote, and told the man not to return without an answer.
The orderly departed, and for a while Merryon devoted himself to the matter in hand, and crushed his anxiety into the background.

But at the end of an hour he was chafing in a fever of impatience.