“I could. You were about to add, in effect, that I was overzealous in your behalf. Perhaps I am. I do know that danger threatens you, and I do know that there is no place in the world where I can meet and turn aside that danger as here on the ground where it is sure to fall sooner or later.”
“But this condition is likely to go on for weeks.”
“In that case we must wait weeks.”
“No,” she said. “It must cease. Listen, Mr. Carter; have you not told me that my brother is also in peril? In peril that is really as great as mine?”
“Yes; he is in peril, but it is not as great as yours, because nothing that could happen to him would be as serious as if it should happen to you. In conditions of this kind, we can only go by contrasts.”
“But you leave him entirely unguarded while you devote all your time to watching over me.”
“Pardon me. We are watching over your mother, your father, your home, and your surroundings. Neither is your brother neglected. He comes home usually during the small hours of the morning and goes away again about midday, but there is never a moment when he could run into danger without my knowledge—unless it happened to be inside one of his own club-houses where my shadows cannot follow him.”
“But this espionage seems to me to be something dreadful. The truth is, if you will have it, Mr. Carter, that I cannot bear the thought that you are here in this house acting as a servant. I do not mind the presence of your assistant, or of Patsy, in the stable; but——”
“But you want me to get out.”
“You put the statement in rather a brutal manner, but in plain English I suppose that to be precisely what I do want,” she replied. “Of course, I know that you understand exactly what I mean by that statement, so what is the use of softening it?”