"No, he was not," said Hallam, quickly. "That was all a mistake. Poor Steve was always a good friend to me. He suffered along with me in that cursed hole, and he shall have his share of the comfort now." "No, no, do not say you wish him to stay." "But I do say it," cried Hallam, angrily. "He is my best friend, and he will stay. Hang it, woman, am I to be cursed with the presence of your friends who sent me out here and not have the company of my own?" "Robert!--husband!--don't speak to me like that." "But I do speak to you like that. Here is that wretched old yachtsman forcing his company upon me day after day, insisting upon coming to the house, and reminding me by his presence who I am, and what I have been." "Darling, Sir Gordon ignores the past, and is grieved, I know, at the terrible mistake that brought you here. He wishes to show you this by his kindness to us all." "Let him keep his kindness till it is asked for," growled Hallam. "He sits upon me like a nightmare. I don't feel that the place is my own when he is here. As for Bayle, he has had the good sense to stay away lately." Mrs Hallam's eyes were full of despair as she listened. "I hate Sir Gordon coming here. He and Bayle have between them made that girl despise me, and look down upon me every time we speak, while I am lavishing money upon her, and she has horses and carriage, jewels and dress equal to any girl in the colony." "Robert, dear, you are not saying all this from your heart." "Indeed, but I am," he cried angrily. "No, no! And Julie--she loves you dearly. It is for her sake I ask this," and she pointed to Crellock where he lay. "Let sleeping dogs lie," said Hallam, with a meaning laugh. "Poor Steve! I don't like him, but he has been a faithful mate to me, and I'm not going to turn round upon him now." "But for Julie's sake!" "I'm thinking about Julie, my dear," he said, nodding his head; "and as for Steve--there, just you make yourself comfortable about him. There's no harm in him; he is faithful as a dog to me, and if I behaved badly he might bite." "You need not be unkind to Mr Crellock if he has been what you say. I only ask you for our child's sake to let him leave here." "Impossible; he is my partner." "Yes, you intimated that. In your business." "Speculations," said Hallam quietly. "There, that will do." "But, Robert--" "That will do!" he roared fiercely. "Stephen Crellock must live here! Do you hear--_must_! Now _go_ to bed." "A woman's duty," she whispered softly, "is to obey," and she obeyed. She obeyed, while another six months glided away, each month filling her heart more and more with despair as she shunned her child's questioning eyes and fought on, a harder battle every day, to keep herself in the belief that the pure gold was still beneath the blackening tarnish, and that her idol was not made of clay.