"Then it's a pity you didn't," Rose replied practically. "It lets off steam. You know, my dear," she added, and passed a caressing arm round Esme's shoulders, "your husband possesses a very complex nature. Judged from the ordinary standpoint, it's an outrageous thing for him to go away like this; in the circumstances it is even cruel. Don't you think it would be good for him when he returned to find that you had gone back to your own people?--that you were not content to sit at home and wait for him? I'd show more spirit, Esme. A man like Paul is apt to become neglectful without intending it. He should be made to think. You ought not to be alone until you are strong again." "I should like him to find his home open," Esme answered, "and a welcome waiting for him when he comes back." There was no doubt in her own mind that one day he would come back. She believed that he would walk in unexpectedly, quite suddenly as he had gone; and she would feel his strong arms round her, and in their shelter forget all the sorrow and perplexity of their separation. That belief buoyed her up and gave her courage to wait. She would not desert her post while he was absent working out his salvation in his own way. Rose left her and went back to her home, and so imbued Jim with her doubts that he sought advice on the matter, and eventually instigated a search for Hallam, who was not, in his opinion, responsible for his actions. Hallam's disappearance seemed as complete as if he had vanished off the face of the earth. For months his whereabouts baffled all inquiries. People referred to him in the past tense as they might refer to a man who is dead. Generally it was believed that he was dead. From the point where he left the train nothing was known of his movements: no one appeared to have seen him after that; no one in the district, which consisted of a few scattered farms, had heard of or seen any stranger; if he had passed through their land he had not made his presence known. It was thought to be unlikely that he had remained in the district. Possibly he had changed his mind and taken again to the train.