"And leave you?" he scoffed. "What can you be thinking of, darling? Am I--Sit down, dear,--here beside me. You are frightened. That infernal brute has scared you almost out of--" "I _am_ frightened,--terribly frightened. So is the Marchioness,--and Mr. Bramble." She sat beside him on the bench. He took her cold hands in his own and pressed them gently, encouragingly. His eyes were very soft and tender. "Poor little girl!" For a long time he sat there looking at her white, averted face. A slow smile slowly struggled to the corners of his mouth. "I can't afford to run away," he said at last. "I've just got to stick by my job. It means a lot to me now, Jane dear." She looked up quickly, her face clearing. "I love you, Eric. I know you are innocent of anything they may charge you with. I _know_ it. And I would give all I have in the world to help you in your hour of trouble. Listen, dear. I want you to accept this in the right spirit. Don't let pride stand in the way. It is really something I want to do,--something that will make me--oh, so happy, if you will just let me do it. I am earning five guineas a week. It is more than I need. Now, dear, just for a little while,--until you have found another place in some city far away from New York,--you must let me share my--What is there to laugh at, Eric?" she cried in a hurt voice. He grew sober at once. "I'm--I'm sorry," he said. "Thank you,--and God bless you, Jane. It's fine. You're a brick. But,--but I can't accept it. Please don't say anything more about it, dear. I just _can't_,--that's all." "Oh, dear," she sighed. "And--and you refuse to go away? You will not escape while there is yet--" "See here, dear," he began, his jaw setting, "I am not underrating the seriousness of this affair. They may have put up a beast of a job on me. They fixed it so that I hadn't a chance three years ago. Perhaps they've decided to finish the job and have done with me for ever. I don't put it above them, curse them. Here's the story in a nutshell. I have two cousins in the Army, sons of my mother's sisters. They're a pair of rotters. It was they who hatched up the scheme to disgrace me in the service,--and, by gad, they did it to the queen's taste. I had to get out. There wasn't a chance for me to square myself. I--I sha'n't go into that, dear. You'll understand why. It--it hurts. Cheating at cards. That's enough, isn't it? Well, they got me. My grandfather and I--he is theirs as well as mine,--we never hit it off very well at best. My mother married Lord Temple. Grandfather was opposed to the match. Her sisters did everything in their power to widen the breach that followed the marriage. It may make it easier for you to understand when I remind you that my grandfather is one of the wealthiest peers in England.