He tried to push her across the room. She clung to him and stood her ground. She stared into his face, forced his eyes to meet hers.
"You are hiding something from me, Jim.... You are going to give him up——"
Suddenly he seized her wrists in a grip of iron. "You know who's hiding out there," he said between his teeth.
"A convict—that's all I know——"
A sound from the conservatory made Jim turn his head. Marjorie wrenched herself free. Out of the darkness beyond the conservatory door the figure of the convict emerged. Marjorie stopped as she saw him.
"Go back!" Jim cried.
The convict spoke. "It's too late! I'm a coward, I know. But liberty's dearer than life now." He held out his arms to Marjorie. "Hide me, for God's sake, hide me!"
She put out her hands as if to keep him off. Her lips framed his name. The name of her brother! It rattled in her throat. She turned to her lover.
"I didn't know, Jim, I didn't know!"
He nodded. "Speak quietly. Sit down there."