“Listen and hear the secret of my life. Are you listening?”
“What do you think, sir?” was the tremulous answer.
“I—love—Miss—Merton;” and for once his eyes sank before Crawley's.
“Sir! you—love—a—woman?”
“Not as libertines love, nor as boys flirt and pass on. Heaven have mercy on me, I love her with all my heart and soul and brain! I love her with more force than such as you can hate!”
“The deuce you do!”
“I love the sweetheart—of the man—who lashed you—like a dog.”
Crawley winced and rubbed his hands.
“And your fortune is made if you help me to win her.”
Crawley rubbed his hands.