Graham looked down. ‘Yes, I have,’ he answered suddenly, impulsively. ‘You must forgive me. I am a pretty low kind of chap to have ever doubted you; but I’ll never do so again.’
‘Not even if another fellow comes along and tells you things?’
‘Never, so long as I live.... What a beast you must think me.’
Brocklehurst shook his head. ‘I only think that some one has been doing his best to turn you against me. I dare say it is natural enough.... You see, I used to get out at night—not very often, but now and again—and they didn’t understand.’
‘Get out?’
‘Yes; through one of the windows.... And because I didn’t take anybody into my confidence, they were sure I was up to no good.... I had to go.... I can’t explain.’
‘You mean, it wasn’t to do any harm?’
‘It was only to be out there—to breathe the air, to be under the sky.’
‘But in the daytime—couldn’t you——’
‘No. I wanted to run in the moonlight; to run over the meadows; to bathe in the river; to be free.’