She laughed bitterly. “I’ll promise that. I hate the place.”
“Now, I’m taking a room in the Condamine. I want you to come there and be my housekeeper.”
She could not keep the contempt out of her eyes.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he said sharply. “I see you don’t understand.”
“You don’t mean ... that?”
“No, damn it, I don’t mean—that.”
She looked at him with new interest, steadily, wonderingly. He went on: “It’s a big room. We’ll divide it into three, with screens and curtains. There will be your part, and my part, and a common one to be used as a kitchen and dining-room. Don’t fear. You’ll be as safe behind your curtain as if you were in a room with doors double-locked.”
She had never met a man like this. Wonder widened her eyes. He laughed to see it, a frank boyish laugh.
“Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? I don’t see why it won’t work, though. If I were a Frenchman, it surely wouldn’t. But we Anglo-Saxons are a cold-blooded lot. We’re idealists, given to doing strange, mad things. I give you my word of honour I will respect you as I would a sister. There you have it. We will be brother and sister. We are enough alike to pass for that. I had intended to do my own cooking, but that will be your job now. Then, while you are resting quietly and getting back your health, I will attack the Casino and get back your money.”
“How will you do that?”