“If that was all,” said Penelope, rather warmly, “I would give him any help I could. But you know you said he wanted more than that.”
“Of course he does.” Colin drew back and looked at her in astonishment. “Why, Pen, he has your promise.”
“No, no,” she said restlessly, “not quite a promise. I—I don’t like him, Colin. He is quite different from what he used to be. Even his face has changed.”
“Your promise,” he repeated. “I know you took advantage of his generosity to withdraw it for a moment, but you renewed it again immediately when I pointed out to you what you had done. Penelope, is it possible that you—my sister—wish to break a solemn promise? What reason can you possibly have for such a thing?”
Penelope writhed. She had no reason to give, even to herself. All she knew was that she had felt to-day as never before the incubus of George Ferrers’ presence, the utter lack of sympathy between herself and him. If she contrasted him with any one else, it was done unconsciously.
“I don’t believe he wishes it himself,” she said. “He doesn’t care for me. He doesn’t behave as if he did.”
“He told me himself,” returned Colin’s solemn, accusing voice, “that while he would not venture to appeal to you at present, it was his dearest hope to claim your promise some day. It is your privilege to help him to raise himself again to the position he has lost. What can be a more noble task for a woman?”
Penelope could not say. Alone with Lady Haigh, it was easy to agree that woman was an independent being, with a life and rights of her own; but she would never have dreamt of asserting this to Colin, to whom a woman was a more or less necessary complement to a man. Ferrers needed her, therefore she would naturally accept the charge—that was his view.
“Would you wish me to marry him as he is now?” she asked desperately.
“No,” he answered, after a moment’s consideration: “I am not quite happy about him, and that is why I am most anxious you should be kind to him. With your sympathy to help him on, and the hope of claiming you at last, he will find the path much easier to climb. Surely this is not too much to ask?”