“I don’t know.”
“And you did not even turn to look after me!”
“That was because I knew that ye yerself was lookin’ round.”
“Do you remember the night on the Derry boat?” Dermod asked wistfully.
“Quite well, Dermod,” she replied. “I often be thinkin’ of them days, I do indeed.”
There was a momentary silence. Norah dreaded the next question which instinctively she knew Dermod would ask. He was better dressed than formerly, she noticed, and he was tall and strong. She felt that he was one in whom great reliance could be placed.
“Where are you going at this hour of the night?” he asked, and Norah read accusation in his tones.
“I’m goin’ out for a walk,” she answered.
“Where are you workin’?”
“How much does he know?” Norah asked herself. What could she tell him? That she was a servant in a gentleman’s house. But even as the lie was stammering on her tongue she faltered and burst into tears.