He said impatiently: "Good God, haven't you had enough happen in that house to make you see the only thing to do is to clear out?"
At that she looked up. "What do you know about anything that has happened at the Priory?" she asked gravely.
He bit his lip. After a moment she said: "Were you responsible for - things that have happened?"
"I can't answer you, and I don't want to lie to you," he said curtly. "I can only tell you that from me you stand in no danger whatsoever. But I'm not the only one mixed up in this." He made a little gesture of despair. "It's no good going on like this. If you won't go, you won't. But I have warned you, and you can believe that I know what I'm talking about."
She began to twist the strap of her handbag round her finger. "I do believe that you - wouldn't hurt me, or any of us," she began.
He interrupted her. "Hurt you! My God, no! Can't you understand, Margaret? I - I love you!"
She bent her head still lower over the absorbing strap. "Please - you mustn't…!" she said inarticulately.
"I know I mustn't. But you don't know what it's like for me to see you here… I wish to God I'd met you under other circumstances!" He ran his fingers up through his crisp black hair. "And yet I don't know that I'd have had a better chance," he said despondently. "The whole thing seems hopeless, and it's no good for anyone in my - line of business - to think of a girl like you."
In a very muffled voice Margaret said: "If I - if I knew it was honest - I - I shouldn't care - what your line of business was." She tried to achieve a lighter note. "As long as it isn't keeping a butcher's shop, or - or anything like that," she added with a wavering smile.
He made a movement as though he would take her hand again, but checked it. "I've no right to speak at all till I can - clear up all this mess," he said. "But to know that you - well, one day I hope I shall be able to say all the things I want to say now. One thing I must ask you though: Will you trust me enough not to mention to anyone that you saw me in your grounds last night?"