"Will you take some refreshment?" said Mr. Chandos. "You are welcome to it."
"Master, I don't need any."
The man, with a rude salute to me, turned and departed, and we saw him treading the gravel walk with a fearless step. Mr. Chandos turned to me with a smile.
"What do you think of all this?"
"I am sure that the gipsies are innocent."
"I have been tolerably sure of that from the first, for I knew that their interest did not lie in making an enemy of me; rather the contrary; what puzzles me, is Lizzy Dene's manner. But let us return to the matter we were interrupted in, Miss Hereford. Go on with what you were about to say."
Very shrinkingly I began, standing close to him, giving him a sketch of the circumstances (Mrs. Paler's tardy payment) that caused me to be without money; and asking him to lend me a trifle: just enough to take me back to Nulle. About a guinea, I thought, or a guinea and a half: I had a few shillings left still. Mr. Chandos seemed highly amused, smiling in the most provoking way.
"Does Mrs. Paler really owe you thirty guineas?"
"Yes, sir. It is half a year's salary."
"Then I think she ought to pay you."