Lily remained silent. She asked herself agitatedly whether, after all, this might not be the simple truth. She could not but see that the Countess was doing everything she could to throw her and Beppo together.
Captain Stuart hurried on: “The young man is a ne’er-do-well; something of an adventurer, too, if Popeau’s information is correct.”
He felt surer of himself. He had feared Lily would be very angry with him, but he could see that, though deeply troubled, she was not angry.
“The man leads a completely idle life! Sometimes he has plenty of money to fling about; at other times he appears desperately hard up.”
“The thing I do not like about Beppo,” said Lily, in a low voice, “is that he didn’t fight. I think that’s such an extraordinary thing!”
And then Angus Stuart did a noble thing. He might have remained silent. Instead, he said quickly:
“You mustn’t blame Beppo Polda for that! Even Popeau admits that wasn’t his fault. He wanted to go to the front, but his mother and the Marchesa Pescobaldi were determined he should run no risks, and so they pulled strings. I think ill of the fellow, and I want you to be on your guard against him. But I don’t want you to think him worse than he is.”
They had now left the gardens, and were making their way through the dark streets.
Tears were rolling down Lily’s cheeks.
“But what can I do?” she said at last. “Surely you don’t want me to leave La Solitude just because Beppo Polda is going to stay there for a few days? He’s not always as silly as he was to-night. When he and I are alone together he’s quite different, and much nicer.”