"What difference?"
"I must start to-morrow instead of next week."
"No, Brian, no."
"I must, indeed. Heron will tell your story to Brett, to Colquhoun, to Mrs. Luttrell, to Miss Murray. He may have telegraphed it already. It is very important to him, because, you see," said Brian, with a sad half-smile, "he is going to marry Miss Murray, and, unless he knows your history, he will think that my existence will deprive her of her fortune."
"I do not believe he will tell your story to anyone."
"Dino, caro mio! Heron is a man of honour. He can do nothing less, unfortunately."
"I think he will do less. I think that no word of what I have told him will pass his lips."
"It would be impossible for him to keep silence," remarked Brian, coldly, and Dino said nothing more.
It was after a long silence, when the candle had died out, and the fire had grown so dim that they could not see each other's faces, that Brian said in a low, but quiet tone—
"Did you tell him why I left Strathleckie?"