"No, my darling, you would not understand, and my keenest pain would be that you should ever know. You can remove this trouble, little Val, and then we need not be parted. Now, sit down by my side."
Mr. Paget sank again into the leathern armchair. He was still trembling visibly. This moment through which he was passing was one of the most bitter of his life.
"You will not breathe a word of what I have told you to any mortal, Valentine?"
"Death itself should not drag it from me," replied the girl.
She set her lips, her eyes shone fiercely. Then she looked at her trembling father, and they glowed with love and pity.
"I can save you," she whispered, going on her knees by his side. "It is lovely to think of saving you. What can I do?"
"My little Val—my little precious darling!"
"What can I do to save you, father?"
"Valentine, dear—you can marry Gerald Wyndham."
Valentine had put her arms round her father's neck, now they dropped slowly away—her eyes grew big and frightened.