"It's—impossible," he persisted thickly, but there was bitter relief in his voice. "The blackguard—the filthy blackguard!"
"Don't, don't, please don't! I can't bear to think of him. I've done with even the thought of him.... He was trying to make me marry him. I told you he was quite mad."
Sharply Falconer pulled himself together, in the tense effort to meet this horrible astonishment like a man.
"And Hill got you out?"
"Yes.... He got me out."
"But the Evershams—they don't know——?"
"No, no, I've told no one. I'm not going to tell anyone. No one knows of it but you and me—and Billy Hill."
"That's right." He drew another long breath, this time in sharp relief. The color was coming back to his face, splotching it unevenly. "You mustn't tell anyone. You don't know how a beastly thing like that would spread. You mustn't let anyone have a hint. Not even my sister."
Arlee's eyes were in shadow. Her voice came slowly. "They would think so badly of me?"
"No—not of you—but it's the kind of thing, the impossible things—A girl simply can't afford——"