The door of the adjoining apartment, whence the girl had seen him emerge upon the preceding day, stood ajar; she quickly glanced within and saw a quantity of antique casts spread upon large tables, and plaster heads heaped one upon another.
"It is there that I paint," he said, "in order that I may always be near at hand in case Sir Joshua should call me."
"As yesterday," she said rashly; then, realizing the memory which she had evoked, she blushed. As for him, he became pale. However, she soon continued:—
"Sir Joshua loves you very dearly."
"He treats me with an almost paternal kindness; I respect him, and entertain for him the affection of a son. I owe him all that—"
"Yes, I know."
"Ah, but you cannot know all. Perhaps you have been told that I have been adopted and educated by Sir Joshua, but if you only knew from what a future of misery and despair he has snatched me, from what a hell he has saved me!"
He pronounced these words with so simple, so profound an accent that the girl, suddenly touched with sympathy, bent her eyes upon him and said:—
"Where were you before you knew him, and what did you do?"
"I lived with the pirates of the Thames, who forced me to learn their horrible business."