eed any assistance from him. Disclaims any
responsibility, in fact.'

"'And you believed him?' she murmured.

"'He was very frank,' I answered. 'He spared neither you nor himself. He
was good enough to warn me against your tricks.'

"'And you believed him?' she repeated with passionate intensity, her
eyes burning bright, her teeth closing over the full red lip. 'Men
always believe another man about a woman.'

"'No, not altogether,' I protested. 'But he said you told him lies.'

"She lay there looking at me for a while without speaking and then she
got up slowly, yawned with a deliberate gesture of extreme gracefulness,
and shrugged her shoulders.

"'And _that's_ all it amounted to!' she remarked with a smile of
disdain. 'He adored me, he said. Never, never would he forget. I was the
only girl he ever really loved! He wanted me to marry him and live in
that--that place you saw. And when I told him what my mother was, he
nearly went mad, and wanted to kill me and commit suicide. Did he tell
you that?'

"'No,' I admitted. 'He didn't become quite so confidential as that. But
he accused you of faithlessness.'

"'Me! How could I be faithful to a lunatic? I had to run away from him.
He wasn't safe....'

"'And what do you want me to do now?' I enquired. 'You must know, my
dear, that I can't stay away from the ship. We sail in a week.'

"'Oh,' she said, coming up to me and putting her hands on my shoulders
so that the warm perfume of her body assailed me. 'To be my friend. A
girl in my position, Mr. Chief, she needs to have a friend. I
thought--well, I was mistaken. I thought he would have been different, a
clever man like him. But they are all the same, all the same.' And her
hands dropped.

"'I said I'd be your friend,' I protested, 'but you didn't seem to think
me worth while.'

"'Always,' she whispered, regarding me, 'never mind what happens?'

"'Yes!' I said, putting my arm round her. 'Tell me whatever you like.
I'll always believe you,' She came close to me, and looking down she
whispered in that sweet, resonant voice that made one think of distant
chimes, 'For that I shall always love you.'"

CHAPTER VI

"Soft!" ejaculated Mr. Spenlove, looking round into the darkness and
feeling for a fresh cigarette. "You have said it. I was soft. But when
you come to think of it, what else could I have been? I am confessing
myself before you. What did you want me to do? Invent a tale? In which I
play a noble