“That I would, sir. But, laws, what can a poor girl like me do for a rich gentleman like you?”
“Can you keep a secret, Emily?”
“Nobody better. You try me, sir.”
He looked at her well; saw she was one of those who could keep a secret, if she chose, and he resolved to risk it.
“Emily, my girl,” said he sadly, “I am an unhappy man.”
“You, sir! Why, you didn't ought to be.”
“I am then. I am in love; and cannot win her.”
Then he told the girl a pretty tender tale, that he had loved Mrs. Staines when she was Miss Lusignan, had thought himself beloved in turn, but was rejected; and now, though she was a widow, he had not the courage to court her, her heart was in the grave. He spoke in such a broken voice that the girl's good-nature fought against her little pique at finding how little he was smitten with HER, and Falcon soon found means to array her cupidity on the side of her good-nature. He gave her a five-pound note to buy gloves, and promised her a fortune, and she undertook to be secret as the grave, and say certain things adroitly to Mrs. Staines.
Accordingly, this young woman omitted no opportunity of dropping a word in favor of Falcon. For one thing, she said to Mrs. Staines, “Mr. Falcon must be very fond of children, ma'am. Why, he worships Master Christie.”
“Indeed! I have not observed that.”