“I can not leave you alone,” answered Ralph Webster firmly; “I can not leave you here—”
At this moment the policeman the cabman had spoken to came up to them, and stopped and looked at May suspiciously.
“Is this the young woman the cabman was speaking of, sir?” he said, addressing Webster. “I saw you pass when he was telling me to look after her.”
“No,” said Webster, quietly; “this young lady is a friend of mine; and a man pushed against her, and she has turned rather faint. You had best take my arm,” he added, addressing May, and without any permission he drew her arm through his, and led her quietly on.
For a few moments May did not speak, nor did he. Then, with his voice full of feeling, he said:
“You have heard some bad news—I fear I know what it is.”
May’s whole form quivered.
“Oh! go away and leave me alone, Mr. Webster,” she once more prayed. “Don’t tell anyone you’ve seen me—I only wish to be alone.”
“You are not fit to be alone,” answered Webster; “you have received a great mental shock, a shock that I have feared for days must come to you—you have learnt the truth, somehow, about Mr. Temple and Miss Kathleen Weir.”
May gave a sudden cry.