"Of course, that wouldn't do. There's business mixed up in all this, you know."
"Business? Well, I guessed at that."
"My part in it wasn't very pleasant," she remarked sadly.
Donnegan was discreetly silent, knowing that silence extracts secrets.
"They made me—flirt with poor Jack. I really liked him!"
How much the past tense may mean!
"Poor fellow," murmured the sympathetic Donnegan. "But why," with gathering heat, "couldn't you help me to do the thing I can't do alone? Why couldn't you get him away from the house?"
"With Joe Rix and the Pedlar guarding him?"
"They'll be asleep in the middle of the night."
"But Jack would wake up and make a noise."