Helen, in the meantime, had reached the end of Dover Street and had entered her club. It was now one o'clock, but she could not bear the thought of food. Her mind was in a state of such imminent disruption that it seemed to call for every resource of a powerful will to hold it together.
She found an armchair in a quiet corner and gave herself up to the task of calming her brain. A horrible feeling of suffocation came to her, tinged with physical agony. She felt as a mouse must feel when caught in a trap.
All the same, the entire mechanism of a clear and powerful intelligence was working furiously. A very vigorous human animal was at bay. Every resource that her body and soul possessed, and they possessel many, had now come automatically into play. No matter what the cost to others or to herself, she must save the life of the man she loved.
Crudely stated that was the point her overdriven mind had reached after she had spent a long hour trying to
