“What do you mean?” she demanded.
Jacob hesitated, floundered and was lost. Not a word of all the eloquence which was stored up in his heart could pass his lips. He who had already made a start, and later on was to hold his own in the world of unexpected happenings, shrank like a coward from the mute antagonism in the girl’s eyes.
“You know,” he faltered.
“The only alternative I am aware of to earning my own living,” she said quietly, “is charity. Were you proposing to offer me a share of your wonderful fortune?”
“Only if I myself were attached to it,” he answered, with a spark of courage.
She turned and looked at him.
“I am afraid,” she said, “that you are inclined to take advantage of your position, Mr. Pratt.”
“I want to say nothing to worry or annoy you,” he assured her. “It is only an accident that I am interested in this estate. I am not your benefactor. You pay your rent and you are quite independent.”
“If I felt that it were otherwise,” she replied, “we should not be here.”