"Take me," said Mrs. Sinclair impulsively.
"My dear Lavender!" Melville said aghast; "what on earth will you want me to do next?"
He was not only astonished but alarmed at the suggestion, for nothing could be devised more fraught with danger to his own schemes. Yet he did not know what a woman of Lavender's temperament might not be capable of doing. On her part, it is true, Mrs. Sinclair had made the suggestion on the spur of the moment, but, having once made it, she was fascinated by it. Possibly, unrecognised by herself, there was in her heart some remorse for the injury she had done Sir Geoffrey, some hunger to set eyes once more upon the man who, if old enough to be her father, had nevertheless been her husband; at all events, she insisted.
"Why should I not go?"
"You would save yourself an unpleasant interview if you gave yourself up to the police at once," Melville answered; "but, of course, you are not serious. Fancy putting your head in the lion's mouth like that!" and he laughed.
Mrs. Sinclair looked at him gravely.
"I've been doing nothing but think for a week," she said, "and, do you know, I'm really not sure that it would not be the best thing for me to go to Sir Geoffrey and tell him all about it. I don't believe he would prosecute me or even apply for a divorce. Of course, I should have to come to terms with the Sinclair lot, and Sir Geoffrey might have to see me through any difficulty with them. But if I did that, he's just the sort of man to take care that I should be no worse off afterwards than I was before. He always respected people who did the square thing. And as for the rest, he knows that if he fed me I'm not the sort of reptile to sting his bosom."
Melville grew more and more anxious, for this mood was a difficult one to combat. He affected to consider the point sympathetically.
"You may be right," he replied; "but that's not the Sir Geoffrey whom I know. He has always been most generous to me, but I've never seen the soft side of the man. He does respect people who do the square thing, but, on the other hand, he never forgives those who don't. And he's as proud as Lucifer."
"I know," said Lavender, and flushed.