avor?"

"Did you really mean to--to take the money?"

"I'll tell you as near as I can. I meant to do my best for my old man. I
meant him to live as long as he could, and to live free, unpersecuted, as
happy as he could be made. I meant that, because I loved him, and he
loved me. Well, I've lost him; I'm alone in the world." The last words
were no appeal to Mary; for the moment he seemed to have forgotten her;
he was speaking out of his own heart to himself. Yet the words thereby
touched her to a livelier pity; you are very lonely when there is nobody
to whom you have affection's right to complain of loneliness.

"But after that, if I saw him to his end in peace, if I brought that off,
well, then I rather think that I should have stuck to the money. Yes, I
rather think so."

"You've managed to mix things up so!" Mary complained. "Your devotion to
Mr. Saffron--for that I could forgive you keeping his secret, and fooling
me, and all of us. But then you mix that up with the money!"

"It was mixed up with it. I didn't do the mixing."

"What are you going to do now?" she asked with a sudden curiosity.

"Oh, now? Now the thing's all different. You've seen, you know, and even
I can't offer you a partnership in the cash, can I? If I weren't an
infernally poor conspirator, I should have covered up the Captain's
grave, and made everything neat and tidy before I came to fetch you,
because I knew he might go back to the Tower. On his bad nights he always
made me open the grave, and spread out the money, make a show of it, you
know. Then it had to be put back in bags--the money bags lived in the
brown leather bag--and the grave had to be fastened down. Altogether it
was a good bit of work. I'd just got it open, and the money spread out,
when he turned bad--a sort of collapse like the one you saw; and I was so
busy getting him to bed that I forgot the cursed grave and the
money--just as I forgot to put away the knife-and-fork before you called
the first time, and you saw through me!"

"If you're not a good conspirator, it's another reason for not
conspiring, Mr. Beaumaroy. I know you conspired for him first of
all, but--"

"Well, he's safe, he's at peace. It can all come out now, and it must.
You know, and you must tell the truth. I don't know whether they can put
me in prison. I should hardly think they'd bother, if they get the money
all right. In any case I don't care much. Lord, what a lot of people'll
say 'I told you so