"I wish he would," she sighed.
"He acts as if he thought we were sheltering a fugitive in this house."
Betty started. "Is that such a dreadful thing to—shelter a fugitive?"
"My dear," said the curate earnestly, "I am speaking of a fugitive from justice, a malefactor, and to shelter such a person is tantamount to becoming a partner in his crime. It is a grave offense in the eyes of the law; it means imprisonment; it means——"
"Mr. Merle," interrupted the girl indignantly, "do you mean to tell me that if a repentant sinner came to you for help and protection you, as a Christian, would refuse to shelter him?"
Horatio stroked his side whiskers and opened and closed his mouth several times with clerical deliberation.
"This is one of those delicate questions, Miss Thompson, one of those delicate questions that—that——"
But Betty would not be put aside with pompous generalities.
"Mr. Merle," she asked earnestly, "suppose you had made a promise to shield some one, to save her from a terrible disgrace?"
"Some one who had done wrong?"