“I want the young lady to remain. What I have to say is of great importance to her.”
Nellie looked mystified, and Benson was gazing with his soul in his eyes at the pretty face. There was a sweetness about her that made him think of her mother, and there was also something that made him acknowledge to himself that he should some time love this girl.
“What have you to say to Miss Standish?” began Tom Cooper, with a sickening feeling at his heart.
“She is the granddaughter of the dead millionaire Benson, and this gentleman here is her cousin. You are one of the greatest heiresses in New York, my dear young lady.”
The detective bowed low before Nellie, but still the mystified expression remained in the deep blue eyes.
“And this gentleman,” said Arkwright sarcastically, coming nearer Tom, “is an escaped convict, whom I shall have to ask to accompany me to the station house.”
Light seemed to break upon Nellie’s mind, but she strenuously denied the charge, keeping a tight hold of her lover.
“You have made a mistake,” cried she. “Tom never did a wrong thing in his life, and I am going to be his wife.”
“But you cannot, my dear Miss Standish; you are a minor, and cannot have your own way for a whole year yet.”
“Nevertheless I am going to be his wife, am I not, Tom? Tell me that they have made a mistake, and that you are not what they are trying to prove you.”