With a quiet murmur—“Oh, quite!”—Mrs. Waring ran an affectionate arm round Sofia’s shoulders and gently held the girl to her.
“When I determined to forsake the bad old ways,” Victor pursued—“this you must know, my dear—I had friends—of a sort—who resented my defection, set themselves against my will and, when they found they could not swerve me from my purpose, became my enemies. That was long ago, but to this day some of them persist in their enmity—I have to be constantly on my guard.”
“You mean there is danger?” Sofia asked in quick anxiety. “Your life—?”
“Always,” Victor assented, gravely. With a shrug he added: “It is nothing; for myself, I am used to it, I do not greatly care. But for you—that is another matter altogether. I have a great fear for you, my child. That, indeed, is why I never tried to find you till yesterday—believing, as I mistakenly did, you were in good hands, well cared for, happy—lest my enemies seek to strike at me through you. But when I saw that unfortunate advertisement I dared delay not another hour about bringing you within the compass of my protection. Even now, untiring as my care for you shall ever be, I know my enemies will be as tireless in endeavours to rob me of you. You will be followed, hounded, importuned, lied to, threatened—all without rest. If they cannot take you from me bodily, they will seek to poison your mind against me. Therefore, rather than keep you practically a prisoner in your home, I feel obliged to require a promise of you.”
Deeply stirred by the melancholy gravity that informed his pose, the girl protested earnestly: “Anything—I will promise anything, rather than be an anxiety to one who is so kind.”
“Kind? To my own daughter?” Victor smiled sadly. “But I love you, little Sofia. Nor is it much that I must ask of you: merely that you never go out alone, but only in the company of Mrs. Waring or Mr. Karslake or, preferably, both.”
“Oh, I promise that—”
“But there is more: If by any accident you should ever find yourself left alone in public, do not let strangers speak to you, refuse to listen to them.”
“I promise.”
“And finally: If anybody should ever seek to turn you against me, come to me instantly and tell me about it.”