“Willingly, Mr Garstang; but can it be done?”
“It must and shall be done if you are willing, my child,” he said firmly, “but it would necessitate a very unusual, a bold and immediate step oh your part.”
“What is that, Mr Garstang?” she said quietly.
“You would have to place yourself under my guardianship at once.”
“At once?” she said, starting slightly.
“Yes. Think for yourself. It could not be done slowly and legally, for at the first suspicion that I was acting against him, James Wilton would place you immediately completely out of my reach, and take ample care that I had no further communication with you.”
“Yes,” she said quietly; “he would.”
“Yes,” he said, repeating her words, and speaking in a slow, passionless, judicial way; “if the thing were deferred, or if he were besieged, he would redouble his pressure. Kate, my dear, that was my idea; but it must sound almost as mad to you as it does to me. Yes, it is impossible; I ought not to have proposed such a thing, and yet I can not find it in my heart to give up any chance of rescuing you from your terrible position.”
He was silent, and she stood there gazing straight before her for a few moments before turning her eyes upon his.
“Tell me plainly what you mean, Mr Garstang.”