“He stopped short there; and I—Yes, and I must stop short too. It is very absurd, Miss Vine, for me to be asked all this.”
“Go on—go on!” said Louise hoarsely.
Leslie glanced at her, and withdrew his eyes.
“‘Will you go abroad, Harry, and make a new beginning?’ I said.
“Poor lad! he was utterly broken down, and he would have thrown himself upon his knees to me if I had not forced him to keep his seat.”
“My brother!” sighed Louise.
“I asked him then if he would be willing to leave you all, and go right away; and I told him what I proposed—that I had a brother superintending some large tin mines north of Malacca. That I would give him such letters as would ensure a welcome, and telegraph his coming under an assumed name.”
“And he accepted?”
“Yes. There, I have nothing to add to all this. I went across with him to Paris, and, after securing a berth for him, we went south to Marseilles, where I saw him on board one of the Messageries Maritimes vessels bound for the East, and we parted. That is all.”
“But money; necessaries, Mr Leslie? He was penniless.”