He broke off his peroration abruptly, coloring hotly.
'You shall not be ruined! It is for my sake he hates you! But I will save you!' she panted.
'Nonsense!' he exclaimed, half touched, half anxious. 'You cannot get rid of Pryor; and as I cannot remain under his command without apology, I must resign—which will mean ruin for me,' he ended, with almost a groan of despondency.
She caught his hand, and pressed it to her breast, to her lips.
'Wait! Trust me!' she cried, running to the open window. 'He shall do you no more harm!'
Jerry, his pulses thrilling to those trembling kisses, followed her.
'Rosita! Sweetest—truest'—he gasped, 'you must not interfere! This matter concerns only Pryor and me. I forbid you!'
She turned when she had crossed the low ledge, and flashed a smile back to him—a smile which both bewildered and repelled him.
'You shall forbid me anything—except to serve you,' she said, and vanished among the shadows of the veranda.
For an instant he meditated pursuit, but gave it up as he remembered the complications which would ensue should he be seen in apparent attempt to evade his arrest.