"There now," he said, hoping with all his might that she would stiffen her spine before he was called upon to render further aid. "No need to weep." "You don't know the half of it," she said, her eyes beginning to leak even more enthusiastically. "I am beginning to wonder if I'll ever get home." "Ah," Richard said helplessly, "ah, surely there is no need for such lack of hope--" "For all I know, it is hopeless!"