“You must listen to me, my dear,” he began, in the cold, stern voice she remembered so well. “I know all about the ordeal you have just gone through, and I have taught Mrs. Neville her error. Are you not tired of the life you have been living since we parted, Iris? Are you not ready to accept the offer I made you on the occasion of our last meeting? I have not interfered with you since then, trusting that time would show you the folly of your conduct, and now I am ready to renew the offer I then made you. Will you come with me to my home?” Iris had by this time recovered the power of speech, and she would not allow Broughton to proceed further. “What does your offer mean for me--a life of even greater misery than I have yet endured--a life I blush to name? Dear Heaven, do you know the shame I have suffered this day, to hear myself branded as a creature unfit for honest women to notice! You say you have been a convict, and I know you are now a gambler and the associate of gamblers; yet acknowledge me as your daughter and I will be your slave. I can bear anything but----” Broughton at this moment checked the speaker by a gesture so fierce and determined that she shrank from him in actual fear. “Cease, girl, and never dare to mention the word convict again in my presence. What you ask of me is impossible for me to grant. Come with me to my home. Let the world say of you what it will, you will at least be secure from want. More than this I cannot do for you. Refuse the offer, and before the dawn of another day the woman who now employs you to work for her shall charge you with theft, and accuse you as a thief before the world.” Iris had thrown herself before him in a kneeling attitude, and was clasping his knees in an agony of supplication. At his last words the girl sprang quickly to her feet, repeating in accents of supreme horror: “A thief, a thief! Great Heaven, what can you mean?” The footsteps of Mrs. Neville were heard returning along the hallway now, and Broughton whispered hurriedly: “I mean just what I have said. You shall be accused of theft unless you do my bidding. The two hundred dollars you had in your possession when you entered this house have been taken from you. If you go back to Madam Ward without the money, do you think she will believe the improbable story you would be obliged to tell to account for its loss? Think over my offer. I shall return to you in a couple of hours, during which time you shall remain in this room alone. Ah, Clara, my dear,” as the widow appeared in the doorway, “I was just telling this young lady you would permit her to remain here until she recovers from the effects of her swoon,” and before Iris could open her lips to speak, Broughton had drawn Mrs. Neville with him out of the room, and locked the door on the outside, leaving Iris for the time a prisoner. CHAPTER LVII. HOMELESS AND ALONE.