“I’ll warrant he did!” Sherry said. He released her hands. “Howard and Gibbs! Kitten, how could you?”
“You are angry!” she faltered. “Was it wrong of me? I did not know. You said you had had dealings with them, and I thought — ”
He groaned. “The devil! I said! I said! For God’s sake, girl, did I ever say that you were to have dealings with them?”
“No, Sherry,” she replied, in a small voice. “But you did not tell me I must not, and what else could I do, when I owed all that money?”
He said sharply: “In the devil’s name, why could you not have told me? Hang it, I may have boxed your ears once or twice, and I dare say I might have done so again, but you can’t have been afraid of me!”
She got up quickly, colour surging into her cheeks. “Afraid of you, Sherry! Oh, never, never! But I felt so dreadfully! You do not understand! You have had such a shocking run of luck, and then those horrid horses behaved so badly at Newmarket — I would have done anything rather than ask you to pay my gaming debts!”
He stared at her. “Hero, you could not suppose that I would permit you to fall into the hands of those bloodsuckers?”
“But, Sherry, I am persuaded they are no such things! I am to pay back the principal out of my allowance, and — ”
“You little fool, they know very well you will do no such thing! They hope you will become more deeplydipped than ever, and fall more securely into their talons, until — Oh, the devil, where’s the use? Listen, brat — Never, whatever happens, have anything to do with moneylenders! It’s the surest road to ruin of them all! Yes, yes, I know I’ve been in their hands myself, but that’s another thing altogether — at least, it isn’t! I can tell you this: I’ll take precious good care I don’t fall into ’em again. Promise me, now!”
“I promise. I am very sorry! If I had known you would not like it — ”