“Exactly,” he answered, dryly. “And who else will believe it? No one. I regret that my offer of assistance has not been met with sincerity.”
“You can all think what you please,” furiously. “I will not sacrifice him. I’ll tell you nothing. He entered my house like a tramp. I had never seen him before.”
Mr. Howard felt justified in becoming seriously angry.
“You can hardly complain if I refuse to allow you to sacrifice your honour, and my cousin’s name, and the feelings of Roseborough, for a man you yourself say you never saw before to-night!” he asserted, dictatorially.
She stamped her foot.
“I’ll tell you nothing of him! He shall not be discovered, and dragged back to his prison. He shall be free.”
Howard started. Prison, did she say? Some poaching “rough” from Poplars Vale, perhaps? This threatened to be a scandal indeed, unless he crushed it under an iron heel.
“Prison. Ah. Very well. Now I think I understand this matter.”
He walked quickly to the anteroom.
“What are you going to do?” she asked, in new alarm. He gave her a stern look under gathered brows.