Heyton swiftly withdrew his eyes, in which astonishment, amazement, and

something nearly approaching contempt, had shown, and Dene laughed with

bitter scorn.

"You can't understand that a man who has once loved a woman loves her

for always----"

He paused; for, at that moment, it was not the face of his old love, the

woman who had jilted him for a better match, that rose before him, but

that of the girl at Brown's Buildings who had stepped in between him and

death, talked him back to reason, given him her last five-pound note.

"--And that even if he has ceased to love her, he'll stand a lot to save

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her from trouble; that he'll make any kind of sacrifice to keep disgrace

and shame from her. That's how I feel towards Miriam. I thought of you

being dragged off by a couple of bobbies to quod, and of how she would

suffer; and I remembered--which was a precious lucky thing for you--that

there was no one to suffer on my account. I thanked God--for the first

time--I'd no one belonging to me. That thought made it easier for me to

do what I am doing."

He tossed the end of the cigarette into the fire.

"I am going to make a bolt for it; and I looked in just to say a few

words to you, Heyton. I'm standing between you and a complete bust-up.

I'm doing it for Miriam's sake, not yours; and I want you to bear this

in mind: that if ever I hear of your treating her badly--oh, you needn't

look so virtuously indignant; I know your sort; you'd treat her badly

enough presently, if you hadn't a check on you. And I'm going to be that

check. Let me hear even a whisper of your acting on the cross with her,

and I'll come back, if it's from the other end of the world, to denounce

you. I've proofs enough. Oh, I'm not such a fool as you think; and, if

you don't treat Miriam fairly, I'll show you up, and probably give you,

into the bargain, the thrashing that's owing to you."

"You needn't talk about Miriam like that," said her husband, sullenly,

and with an affectation of righteous resentment. "I'm fond of her; I

shouldn't have done--well, what I have done, if I hadn't been. You

needn't insult me."

"My good man, I couldn't," said Dene. "One word more and, you'll be

relieved to hear, I'm off. For some reason or other the police, the

detectives, have been slow, or have failed to track me."




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