‘You went to Plymouth. You saw the manager who had known my Eve. What did he say?’
‘He told me very little.’
‘Did he tell you where she was?’
‘No. He saw her for the last time on this rock. He had been sent here by her father, who was unable to keep his appointment.’
‘Go on.’
‘That is all. She refused to desert you and her child. It is false that she ran away with an actor.’
‘Who said she had? Not I—not I. Her own father, her own father—not I.’
‘Then what became of her? Mr. Barret told me he had been to see her here at Morwell once or twice whilst the company was at Tavistock, and found her happy. After that my father came and tried to induce her to return to Buckfastleigh with him.’
Mr. Jordan put out his white thin hand and laid it on Jasper’s wrist.
‘You need say no more. The end is come, and I will tell you all. I knew that one of the actors came out and saw her—not once only, but twice—and then her father came, and she met him in secret, here in the wood, on this rock. I did not know that he whom she met was her father. I supposed she was still meeting the actor privately. I was jealous. I loved Eve. Oh, my God! my God!’—he put his hands against his temples—’when have I ceased to love her?’