She looked up quickly, her face clearing.
"I love you, Eric. I know you are innocent of anything they may charge you with. I know it. And I would give all I have in the world to help you in your hour of trouble. Listen, dear. I want you to accept this in the right spirit. Don't let pride stand in the way. It is really something I want to do,—something that will make me—oh, so happy, if you will just let me do it. I am earning five guineas a week. It is more than I need. Now, dear, just for a little while,—until you have found another place in some city far away from New York,—you must let me share my—What is there to laugh at, Eric?" she cried in a hurt voice.
He grew sober at once.
"I'm—I'm sorry," he said. "Thank you,—and God bless you, Jane. It's fine. You're a brick. But,—but I can't accept it. Please don't say anything more about it, dear. I just can't,—that's all."
"Oh, dear," she sighed. "And—and you refuse to go away? You will not escape while there is yet—"
"See here, dear," he began, his jaw setting, "I am not underrating the seriousness of this affair. They may have put up a beast of a job on me. They fixed it so that I hadn't a chance three years ago. Perhaps they've decided to finish the job and have done with me for ever. I don't put it above them, curse them. Here's the story in a nutshell. I have two cousins in the Army, sons of my mother's sisters. They're a pair of rotters. It was they who hatched up the scheme to disgrace me in the service,—and, by gad, they did it to the queen's taste. I had to get out. There wasn't a chance for me to square myself. I—I sha'n't go into that, dear. You'll understand why. It—it hurts. Cheating at cards. That's enough, isn't it? Well, they got me. My grandfather and I—he is theirs as well as mine,—we never hit it off very well at best. My mother married Lord Temple. Grandfather was opposed to the match. Her sisters did everything in their power to widen the breach that followed the marriage. It may make it easier for you to understand when I remind you that my grandfather is one of the wealthiest peers in England.
"Odd things happen in life. When my father died, I went to Fenlew Hall with my mother to live. Grandfather's heart had softened a little, you see. I was Lord Eric Temple before I was six years old. My mother died when I was ten. For fifteen years I lived on with Lord Fenlew, and, while we rowed a good deal,—he is a crotchety old tyrant, bless him!—he undoubtedly preferred me to either of my cousins. God bless him for that! He showed his good sense, if I do say it who shouldn't.
"So they set to work. That's why I am here,—without going into details. That's why I am out of the Army. And I loved the Army, Jane,—God bless it! I used to pray for another war, horrible as it may sound, so that I could go out and fight for England as those lads did who went down to the bottom of Africa. I would cry myself to sleep because I was so young then, and so useless. I am not ashamed of the tears you see in my eyes now. You can't understand what it means to me, Jane."
He drew a deep breath, cleared his throat, and then went on.
"Lord Fenlew turned me out,—disowned me. Don't blame the old boy. They made out a good enough case against me. I was given the choice of resigning from the regiment or—well, the other thing. My father was practically penniless when he died. I had nothing of my own. It was up to me to earn an honest living,—or go to the devil. I thought I'd try out the former first. One can always go to the devil, you know. So off into the far places of the earth I wandered,—and I've steered pretty clear of the devil up to date.