"I saw Pete to-day," he said suddenly.
Jenny stared down at the floor and answered nothing.
"I'm a wretched man, girl," said Ned; "did George tell you?"
Jenny did not reply, and Ned knew that she knew. He burst into tears.
"I've killed Mary," he said. His face was stained with the dust of the road and the tears he shed channelled the dirt. He looked dreadful, ludicrous, pathetic, hideously comic. "I—I killed her with a shovel. She was a good woman to me, and I got mad with drink. I'll never touch it again."
He looked eagerly towards the bottle on the table. He had taken some more when the others were out of the room.
"I've killed her, and they'll hang me, Jenny! Where's George gone?"
The tears ran down Jenny's face.
"He's gone to get someone to take you away, Mr. Ned!"
They might come any moment and take him away! There was quite a big jail in the City.