Perkins brought the tumblers and the whisky into the room and placed them on a small table.
"Quite exciting, miss, this escape of two convicts. Hasn't been an escape from Princetown for a long time. What with that and this radium mine on Mr. Dale's estate——"
He suddenly stopped and coughed deprecatingly. He, too, in speaking of convicts had forgotten that he was speaking to a convict's sister.
Marjorie waited. For a long time she heard no sound. Then Jim's voice, strained and very stern. Not the voice of a lover now, but the voice of a soldier—even something more than that, the voice of a man under the strain of great emotion.
Presently she detected an answering voice. She rose to her feet, and standing against the conservatory door peered through the glass.
She could see the outlines of the two men distinctly. One her lover, the other the convict. Jim turned, and as he did so he saw her. She saw him push the convict back, then, mounting the steps, he opened the door.
"Go back!" he cried fiercely. "Go—away—into the dining-room."
"You must tell me what you're going to do."
She looked into his face, but his eyes fell. His mouth looked merely a thin line, his jaws protruded. She put her hand on his arm—it was like a steel band.
"Go away, do you hear! Go away, do you hear! Wait until I come to you." He commanded now.