Because of that look she suddenly stretched out her hands to him impulsively, generously.
"I want fair play," she said. "Perhaps I don't deserve it. I haven't always treated you fairly. But I want you to put the past away from you--as I have done. I want to trust you again."
There were tears in her eyes as she spoke. He held her hands hard pressed in his.
"A dangerous experiment, Maud of the roses," he said. "But if you will you must. What more do you want?"
She answered him quickly, pleadingly. "Charlie, you have a grudge against--my husband! I want it put right away--right away. I don't think you have the power to hurt him, but even if you had, I want to know that you wouldn't use it. He has always served you faithfully. I want fair play for him."
Saltash's dark face showed a faint, twisted smile. "You certainly credit me with considerable generosity," he said.
"He deserves fair play from you," she insisted. "You have tried to undermine his reputation, and you have failed. But you might have succeeded, although you know, as well as I do--that he is a white man."
"Do I?" said Saltash.
"You do! You do!" she said with conviction. "You have no right to cherish a grudge against him. He has done nothing to deserve it."
"And how do you know that?" said Saltash.