"Hush!" cried Lady Eversleigh. "Do not call me by that name, if you do not wish to inspire me with a deeper loathing than that which I already feel for you."
"Well, I'm blest!" muttered Mr. Milsom; "that's uncommon civil language from a young woman to—"
Honoria stopped him by a sudden gesture.
"I suppose you expect to profit by this interview?" she said.
"That I most decidedly do expect," answered the tramp.
"In that case, you will carefully avoid all mention of the past, for otherwise you will get nothing from me."
The man responded at first only with a sulky growl. Then, after a brief pause, he muttered—
"I don't want to talk about the past any more than you do, my fine, proud madam. If it isn't a pleasant time for you to remember, it isn't a pleasant time for me to remember. It's all very well for a young woman who has her victuals found for her to give herself airs about the manner other people find their victuals; but a man must live somehow or other. If he can't get his living in a pleasant way, he must get it in an unpleasant way."
After this there was a silence which lasted for some minutes. Lady Eversleigh was trying to control the agitation which oppressed her, despite the apparent calmness of her manner. Black Milsom walked by her side in sullen silence, waiting for her to speak.
The spot was lonely. Lady Eversleigh and her companion were justified in believing themselves unobserved.