She shook her head in silence. He threw his cigarette suddenly into the deep glow upon which her eyes were fixed. It leaped at once to flame, flame that burned ardently for a brief while, and then went out.
"Are you trying to find a way out?" he asked her then very softly. "There is a way out of every hole, believe me."
She gave him a quick glance as of one hard pressed, but still she did not speak.
He leaned forward also, pointing to the red heart of the fire that glowed but never flickered. "If you have the nerve,--the pluck--to face the furnace," he said, "it may scorch you a bit, but it shan't consume you. And it would be soon over. Would you be afraid--would you be afraid--to face it with me?"
His voice was low, stink almost to a whisper; yet it reached her, for he spoke almost into her ear.
She sat rigidly still, gazing before her. The fragrance of the burnt cigarette came out like incense from an altar.
He drew a little closer to her. "Maud, I am always ready--always ready. I am willing to offer any sacrifice. I should never count the cost. Nothing could be too much. I don't say any more that you are mine--unless you stoop to bestow yourself upon me. But I am yours--always--for all time. Bear that in mind--when the time comes!" He paused a moment; then: "Let that ring of ours be the sign and message," he murmured. "When you need deliverance, I will come to you from the world's end."
He rose with the words, so suddenly that she was startled; and in a moment his voice calm and debonair rang across the room.
"Hullo, Bolton! How long have you been hiding there? Come over here, and see if you can put a little heart into your wife! She needs it."
Maud, her white face turned over her shoulder, saw Jake's square shoulders outlined against the furthest south window. He was looking over his shoulder also; their eyes met across the room. Then he turned round fully in his solid way and came to them.