“Most people have some trouble or another,” she answered evasively.
He came a little nearer to her, and instead of the gruff, harsh tones he habitually used, his voice was singularly pleasant and low as he said:
“People who are in trouble need help, Miss Cayley. Will you let me help you?”
“You can't,” she answered, shaking her head. “No one could.”
“How can you tell that?” he asked eagerly. “Perhaps I know more already than you think.”
“I daresay you do,” she said slowly. “I have thought that a long time. Will you tell me one thing?—Are you his friend or not?”
There was no need for Dunn to ask to whom the pronoun she used referred.
“I am so much not his friend,” he answered as quietly and deliberately as she had spoken. “That it's either his life or mine.”
At that she drew back in a startled way as though his words had gone beyond her expectations.
“How do I know I can trust you?” she said presently, half to herself, half to him.