His eyes met hers unfalteringly.
“Yes,” he said simply.
“One of the men that I have to thank for years of misery and sorrow,” she continued. “When I saw my father slowly sinking, a broken-hearted man, weighed down with the knowledge of the folly that had brought his wife and child to comparative poverty; when I saw my father die, crushed in spirit by his misfortunes, I never thought I should meet the man who brought his ruin about.”
Still Jimmy’s gaze did not waver. Impassive, calm and imperturbable, he listened unmoved to the bitter indictment.
“This will says you were a man of my father’s own class, one who knew the tricks by which a gentle, simple man, with a childish faith in such men as you, might be lured into temptation.”
Jimmy made no reply, and the girl went on in biting tones—
“A few days ago you helped me to escape from men whom you introduced with an air of superiority as thieves and blackmailers. That it was you who rendered me this service I shall regret to the end of my days. You! You! You!” She flung out her hand scornfully. “If they were thieves, what are you? A gambler’s tout? A decoy? A harpy preying on the weakness of your unfortunate fellows?”
She turned to Connor.
“Had this man offered me his help I might have accepted it. Had he offered to forego his claim to this fortune I might have been impressed by his generosity. From you, whom God gave advantages of birth and education, and who utilized them to bring ruin and disaster on such men as my father, the offer is an insult!”
Jimmy’s face was deadly pale, but he made no sign. Only his eyes shone brighter, and the hand that twisted the point of his beard twitched nervously.