"Dear, dear," I said fretfully, "this is all beside the question. What is most urgent is to shield and save you now when the peril is most pressing."
"And yet you propose to leave me to fight it out alone? Is that reasonable? Is it generous, chivalrous, to desert a poor woman in her extremity?"
"I protest, you must not put it like that. I have explained the necessity. Surely you must see that it would be madness, quite fatal for us, to be seen together, or for you to be seen at all. I must still hoodwink them by going off this afternoon."
"And leave me without protection, with all I have at stake? If only Claire was here."
"It wouldn't mend matters much, except that Lady Claire would side with me."
"Oh, yes, you say that, you believe she thinks so much of you and your opinion that she would agree to anything you suggest."
"Mine is the safest and the only course," I replied, I am afraid with some heat. "You must, you shall take it."
"Upon my word, Colonel Annesley, you speak to me as if I were a private soldier. Be good enough to remember that I am not under your orders. I claim to decide for myself how I shall act."
She was no longer piteous or beseeching; her tears had dried, a flush of colour had risen to her cheeks, and it was evident that her despair had given place to very distinct temper.