Well, I didn't, of course—I only felt it.
"The police haven't even proved a crime. They can't hold a man for a supposititious murder."
"Perhaps they can't but they're doing it," I retorted. "If the woman's alive, she won't let him hang."
"I'm not so sure of that," he said heavily, and got up. He looked in the little mirror over the sideboard, and brushed back his hair. "I look bad enough," he said, "but I feel worse. Well, you've saved my life, Mrs. Pitman. Thank you."
"How is my—how is Miss Harvey?" I asked, as we started out. He turned and smiled at me in his boyish way.
"The best ever!" he said. "I haven't seen her for days, and it seems like centuries. She—she is the only girl in the world for me, Mrs. Pitman, although I—" He stopped and drew a long breath. "She is beautiful, isn't she?"
"Very beautiful," I answered. "Her mother was always—"
"Her mother!" He looked at me curiously.
"I knew her mother years ago," I said, putting the best face on my mistake that I could.
"Then I'll remember you to her, if she ever allows me to see her again. Just now I'm persona non grata."