"No, no!" He sprang to his feet, and threw wide his ragged arms
with a swift, passionate gesture. "It means Life--and Helen. My
God!" he went on, speaking almost in a whisper, "I never knew how
much I wanted her--how much I had wilfully tossed aside--till now!
I never realized the full misery of it all--till now! I could
have starved very well in time, and managed it as quietly as most
other ruined fools. But now--to see the chance of beginning again,
of coming back to self-respect and--Helen, my God!" And, of a
sudden, he cast himself upon his face, and so lay, tearing up the
grass by handfuls. Then, almost as suddenly, he was upon his
feet again, and had caught up his hat. "Sir," said he somewhat
shamefacedly, smoothing its ruffled nap with fingers that still
quivered, "pray forgive that little ebullition of feeling; it
is over--quite over, but your tidings affected me, and I am not
quite myself at times; as I have already said, turnips and unripe
blackberries are not altogether desirable as a diet."
"Indeed," said I, "you seemed strangely perturbed."
"Mr. Vibart," said he, staring very hard at the battered hat, and
turning it round and round, "Mr. Vibart, the devil is surprisingly
strong in some of us."
"True," said I.
"My cousin, Sir Jasper, is a bookish fellow, and, as I have said,
a fool where anything else is in question; if this meeting is
allowed to take place, I feel that he will most certainly be killed,
and his death would mean a new life--more than life to me."
"Yes," said I.
"And for a moment, Mr. Vibart, I was tempted to sit down in the
ditch again, and let things take their course. The devil, I
repeat, is remarkably strong in some of us."
"Then what is your present intention?"
"I am going to London to find Sir Maurice Vibart--to stop this
duel."
"Impossible!" said I.
"But you see, sir, it so happens that I am possessed of certain
intelligence which might make Sir Maurice's existence in England
positively untenable."
"Nevertheless," said I, "it is impossible."
"That remains to be seen, Mr. Vibart," said he, and speaking,
turned upon his heel.
"One moment," said I, "was not your cousin, Sir Jasper, of the
middle height, slim-built and fair-haired, with a habit of
plucking at his lips when at all nervous or excited?"