Jenny was silent.
"You see, if he is not envious, he is at all events a coward," argued
Wogan, "else he would have run his own risks and come in your stead."
"But that would not have served," cried Jenny. It was her turn now to
speak triumphantly. "How could O'Toole have run away with his heiress
and at the same time remained behind in her bed to escape suspicion, as
I am to do?"
"I had forgotten that, to be sure," said Wogan, meekly.
Jenny laughed derisively.
"O'Toole is the man with the head on his shoulders," said she.
"And a pitiful, calculating head it is," exclaimed Wogan. "Think of the
inconvenience of your position when you are discovered to-morrow. Think
of the angry uncle! O'Toole has thought of him and so keeps out of his
way. Here's a nice world, where hulking, shapeless giants like O'Toole
hide themselves from angry uncles behind a dwarf-girl's petticoats. Bah!
We will go back and kick O'Toole."
Wogan rose to his feet. Jenny did not move; she sat and laughed
scornfully.
"You kick O'Toole! You might once, if he happened to be asleep. But he
would take you up by the scruff of the neck and the legs and beat your
face against your knees until you were dead. Besides, what do I care for
an angry uncle! I am well paid to put up with his insults."
"Well paid!" said Wogan, with a sneer. "A hundred guineas and a damask
gown! Three hundred guineas and a gown all lace and gold tags would not
be enough. Besides, I'll wager he has not paid you a farthing. He'll
cheat you, Jenny. He's a rare bite is O'Toole. Between you and me,
Jenny, he is a beggarly fellow!"
"He has already paid me half," cried Jenny. It was no knowledge to
Wogan, who, however, counterfeited a deal of surprise.
"Well," said he, "he has only done it to cheat you the more easily of
the other fifty. We will go straight back and tell him that it costs
three hundred guineas, money down, and the best gown in Paris to turn a
fine figure of a girl into a dwarf-bear."
He leaned down and took Jenny by the arm. She sprang to her feet and
twisted herself free.
"No," she said, "you can go back if you will and show him what a good
friend you are to him. But I go on. The poor captain shall have one
person in the world, though she's only a servant, to help him when he
wants."