‘Then why not leave it?’
‘Ye’re talking like a child. How the divvle can I leave it?’
‘Leave it with me,’ said Paul.
That was what he had meant to say from the first, and now that he had spoken his word his difficulties seemed to fall away.
‘I can’t earn full wages yet, but I can get two-thirds anywhere. I can make eighteen shillings a week, and I can live on half of it. You can have the other half, and there will be no need, then—— You will find something to do in time—sewing, or ironing, or something—and then it will be easier for us both.’
‘Ye’re mad!’ said Norah MacMulty.
‘No,’ said Paul, ‘I’m not mad. I’m going to save your soul, Norah.’
She looked at him fixedly.
‘Ye mean it?’ she asked.
‘I mean it,’ he answered. ‘I mean it in God’s hearing.’