“I will fulfil my part of the bargain. I will keep my word,” she said at last slowly.
“That’s right. Now you are returning to your senses.”
“But you must also keep your part,” she continued. “The promises you made were these: I was to become your wife, and Sir Richard Pelham was to be unmolested for six months.”
“I remember quite well that you made that a condition,” said Tarbot. “It always seemed to me an unnecessary and foolish one, but until to-night I never considered it carefully. Circumstances alter matters. In a case like this we cannot adhere strictly to a bargain. We are both in danger—in extreme danger—we have to fight, remember, for our lives.”
“True,” she answered. She lowered her eyes, to raise them the next moment and fix them on her husband’s face.
“Pelham must be arrested next week,” repeated Tarbot.
“No, no, Luke! Not so soon.”
“Clara, my word must be law in this matter. When our lives are in jeopardy we cannot afford to play the fool for a matter of mere sentiment. I tell you, if I do not have Pelham arrested he will turn the tables on me.”
“He will not, for his fears will soon be over. His apprehensions will sink out of sight, he will go down to his property and be a happy man.”
“What do you mean?”