'Winefred!' said her father reproachfully.
'It is not my fault, but my misfortune, that I am homeless,' said Jack, looking the girl full in the face. And before his intense eyes her countenance fell. 'I understand you,' he said. 'The word was said with intention to hurt. But it hurts me only so far as it shows me what your intention was.'
'Did I hurt you?' asked Winefred, turning crimson. Then: 'I am sorry.'
But the expression of regret came too late, Jack had already walked away.
CHAPTER XXXVI
TO BATH
How Jack Rattenbury came to Bath must now be told.
Jack had found work, or it had been found for him. Whilst Winefred had been settling into new quarters at Bath he had been finding a temporary home and occupation at Beer. It had come about in this way. He had gone to Mrs. Jose, at Winefred's suggestion, and told her his difficulties, and that kind-hearted woman had induced her brother, James Ford, or, as he was locally termed, Captain Ford, to give him employment in the Beer quarries.