“It would have made no difference; a woman in distress needed help—that should be enough for any one calling himself a man.”
“I am glad to hear you subscribe to such lofty sentiments; there was a time when you hardly thought the same.”
“Pardon me, I don’t care to discuss the past. That is buried beyond recall. I have forgotten it.”
I lied when I said that; what man can ever forget who has lived a year or two in Paradise, even though kicked out finally? But no matter, it served my purpose, for she took especial pains to show how she hated me, and I was not the one to be outdone by a woman.
There was some more play of the emotions upon her face; I saw a hand pressed against her heart, but of course it was only because my cold-blooded words had cut her pride, and she hardly knew just how to answer me.
Then she arose to the occasion, and I could see her blue eyes flash as they had flashed that day we had the nasty quarrel ending in my abandoning the palace I called home.
“You are a brute, Morgan Kenneth! Oh, how I detest you!” she said, hotly.
I smiled in derision; knowing that she hated me anyway, there was no reason why I should cringe to hear her say so; and yet, despite that sarcastic smile, deep down in my heart, I quailed under her scorn.
“I beg of you to ignore the past, at least until we are in other quarters than this. You have appealed for assistance. I confess I haven’t an iota of understanding as to how you came here, with whom, or what manner of danger you wish to avoid. It does not matter. We have come, and we are at your service. Where would you go to seek an asylum from your enemies?”
I spoke as calmly as might be expected of a man under such remarkable conditions.