“You will not try to twist yourself away from me?”
“No, miss.”
“I want you to tell me, Thomasine, whither you were running? Were you going to Mrs. Saltren?”
“Mrs. Saltren!” scoffed the girl. “She is nothing. Marianne Saltren, the daughter of the canting old cheat, and widow of a mining captain. I won’t be servant to her. Not I.”
“Whither were you going, then?”
Thomasine was silent.
Arminell walked at her side; she had let go the girl’s hand.
“I ran after you,” said Arminell.
“Was that what made you so hot and out of breath, miss?”
“Yes, I was frightened when I heard that you had gone away.”