“You cannot stand it,” said Jasper; “you cannot demean yourself. I don’t know that I’d have done it—yes, perhaps I would—but having done it, you must stick to your guns.”
“Yes,” said Evelyn in a mournful tone; “I must run away. I have quite, quite, absolutely made up my mind.”
“And when, darling?” said Jasper, trembling a good deal.
“The night before the week is up. I will come to you here, Jasper, and you must take me.”
“Of course, love; you will come back with me to The Priory. I can hide you there as well as anywhere on earth—yes, love, as well as anywhere on earth.”
“Oh, I’d be so frightened! It would be so close to them all!”
“The closer the better, dear. If you went into any village or any town near you would be discovered; but they’d never think of looking for you at The Priory. Why, darling, I have lived there unsuspected for some time now—weeks, I might say. Sylvia will not tell. You shall sleep in my bed, and I will keep you safe. Only you must bring some money, Evelyn, for mine is getting sadly short.”
“Yes,” said Evelyn. “I will ask Uncle Edward; he will not refuse me. He is very kind to me, and I love him better than any one on earth—better even than Jasper, because he is father’s very own brother, and because I am his heiress. He likes to talk to me about the place and what I am to do when it belongs to me. He is not angry with me when I am quite alone with him and I talk of these things; only he has taught me to say nothing about it in public. If I could be sorry for having got into this scrape it would be on his account; but there, I was not brought up with his thoughts, and I cannot think things wrong that he thinks wrong. Can you, Jasper?”
“No, my little wild honey-bird—not I. Well, dearie, I will meet you again to-morrow night; and now I must be going back.”
Evelyn returned to the house. She went up to her room, changed her shoes, tidied her hair, and came down to the drawing-room. Lady Frances was leaning back in a chair, turning over the pages of a new magazine. She called Evelyn to her side.