"The other was that I determined to find out the reason he had in wishing to get me there. I had not been able to understand all the Killigrews had hinted from time to time. I thought that Trevisa's motives might have a connection with what they had said."
"And you were not afraid?"
"Women are not all so cowardly as you think. I might have acted differently had his son been with him, but when I found him alone I determined to stay until I had discovered what was in his mind."
"And you discovered it?"
"Yes."
I could not help admiring her as she stood there before me so brave, so far-seeing, so resolute. She was barely twenty-one. She had revealed to me all the weaknesses, all the tenderness of a woman; yet now, after having accomplished what few men would think of attempting, she was calmer than I. As I have said, she was taller and more largely formed than most women, and the hand that rested on a table by her side was as firm as a man's. No one could in any way associate her with littleness or poverty of nature. Everything told of purity, of nobleness, of beauty of life. Remembering my bargain with Trevisa, I dared not look at her; but I was glad I had refused to take the price of my work.
I waited for her to continue, for I felt I had no right to ask her questions.
"You told me," she went on, "that Peter Trevisa was a cunning, evil-minded man. You were right. Like all such men, he judged the motives of others by his own. What he would do under certain circumstances, he would expect others to do."
"Yes, that is so."