"Jasper's? You mean to say——"
Then Jeremy told what was very like an audacious lie.
"Miss Benham—Cousin Jasper will very shortly be married. And I am glad—because of the woman he will marry. Honour is concerned in it, even his very life. He is in great danger. One careless word may wreck everything."
Rose was white, furious, and astonished.
"To be married! And all this wild talk——?"
"My dear Miss Benham, sometimes two men desire to marry the same woman. It is not unusual. And one of the men may be desperate and unprincipled. The unprincipled man may take advantage of the other's sense of honour."
"But Jasper—is he in danger?"
"Very grave danger."
"Then why on earth don't you do something?"
Jeremy gave her one of his shrewd smiles.