"Will you go home, if I take you?" he began.
The girl shook her head, and dragged the old shawl closer round her
shivering body.
"Not till morning," she said decidedly. "I shall be all right then."
"But you'll freeze to death here!"
She laughed harshly.
"I wish I was dead," she said, with an earnestness that made Leroy's
heart ache, as he thought of her extreme youth and saw the bitter
despair in the great dark eyes.
He drew himself up sharply as if he had decided on his course of action.
"I cannot leave you here," he said quietly, "and money is of no use to
you to-night. Will you come with me?" He held out his hand as he spoke,
and, without a word, the girl rose wearily and laid her own cold one in
his. They proceeded thus, in silence, for the length of the square; but
Leroy soon saw that, whether, from cold or from hunger, the girl's steps
were growing feebler and more uncertain. Without further ado, he picked
her up in his arms, wrapping her shawl more warmly round her.
"We are nearly there," he said reassuringly, "and you are as light as a
feather."
She lay back, perfectly content, her head pressed against his broad
shoulder, her dark eyes closed trustfully.
Adrien Leroy hurried on, for the wind cut with the force of a knife; but
his face was very thoughtful as he approached his chambers.
"What else can I do?" he asked himself. "She is such an innocent child.
Can I take her to my rooms without injury to her poor shred of
reputation? Yet no houses are open at this hour, and I cannot hand her
over to that drunken brute. There's no help for it!"
It evidently never occurred to him to turn back and deliver her into the
charge of Miss Lester. Indeed, he thought that would have been greater
cruelty than to have left her in the streets.
Having reached the block of buildings in which were his own rooms,
Adrien walked up the stairs and opened a door on the first floor. In the
hall a light was burning, held by a statuette of white marble; and
Leroy, after gently setting the girl down on her feet, led her into his
study.
The room in which she found herself was not lofty, but the ceiling was
exquisitely painted, while from the four corners hung electric lights
'neath delicate shades. The furniture was rich in colour, solid as
befitted a man's room, while on the walls were a few rare engravings. A
couple of gun-cases in one corner and a veritable stock of fishing
implements in another showed that Leroy was not unaccustomed to sport;
it was one of his man Norgate's complaints that he was not allowed to
pack them away, but must leave them there, close at hand, just as Leroy
might want them.