She can only
drive us forth together. Or we can fly from this cursed wealth,
and all the misery it has entailed--forever."
She raised her head, and, with her two hands on his shoulders,
gazed at him with her father's searching eyes, as if to read his
very soul.
"Are you mad, Harry!--think what you propose! Is this not tempting
me? Think again, dearest," she said, half convulsively, seizing
his arm when her grasp had slipped from his shoulder.
There was a momentary silence as she stood with her eyes fixed
almost wildly on his set face. But a sudden shock against the
bolted door and an inarticulate outcry startled them. With an
instinctive movement, Guest threw his arm round her.
"It's Pereo," she said, in a hurried whisper, but once more
mistress of her strength and resolution. "He is seeking YOU! Fly
at once. He is mad, Harry; a raving lunatic. He watched us the
last time. He has tracked us here. He suspects you. You must not
meet him. You can escape through the other door, that opens upon
the canada. If you love me--fly!"
"And leave YOU exposed to his fury--are you mad! No. Fly yourself
by the other door, lock it behind you, and alarm the servants. I
will open this door to him, secure him here, and then be gone. Do
not fear for me. There is no danger--and if I mistake not," he
added, with a strange significance, "he will hardly attack me!"
"But he may have already alarmed the household. Hark!"
There was the noise of a struggle outside the door, and then the
voice of Captain Carroll, calm and collected, rose clearly for an
instant.
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