Mr. Hudson now began to perceive more or less clearly what was the reason of this sudden haste, but he temporised.
"Now sit down quietly and let us talk things over. Believe me, I really wish you well. Do you mistrust me?"
"No! no!" with her eyes filling with tears—"no, I do not. It is not that."
"You can go, Mrs. Jones," he said to the laundress who still loitered about.
When this woman was outside the chambers Mary continued, half sobbing, and in tones that made the young man's heart feel very queer.
"You are very good to me, but I know our talk will end in nothing; how can it? I am very grateful to you. Please don't think I am ungrateful, Mr. Hudson; but I feel we had better separate at once."
He looked steadily into the beautiful frank eyes for quite a minute, then said sadly, in a low voice,
"Miss Grimm, Mary, I think you are quite right; a talk will do little good, it may do harm. Yes, it is sure to do harm."
The young man, though a rake, was far from devoid of generosity, and yet it may be that he would not have given her up like this were it not for certain after thoughts.
The girl, he imagined, poor little thing, would in all probability soon be his, but he would not tempt her. To deliberately ruin her was a crime his conscience rather stuck at. No, he would let her have her chance of being respectable. If she could not find any honest employment, as was most likely, why he would look after her and make her as happy as he could as his mistress. Mr. Hudson was a casuist, as indeed are ninety-nine men out of a hundred in these matters.