CHAPTER SIX
THERE WAS A LONG SILENCE
SHRINKING against the wall the girl looked up at him, her face sick with terror. Amazement turned him to stone. Then suddenly he recovered himself; and his astonishment changed to disgust.
“Well,” he said in a hard voice, “caught you in the act, didn’t I?”
She did not answer.
“I’m sorry, very sorry. I’d rather it had been any one else. Tell me, is there any reason I shouldn’t hand you over to the police?”
No answer.
“Speak, please. Is there any reason?...”
Her arms dropped. She straightened up, and looked him full in the face.
“There is. I’m starving. I haven’t tasted food for two days....” Then she sank at his feet.
Two hours later they were in a lonely corner of a restaurant. She had satisfied her hunger, and was sitting silent, downcast, sullen.
He looked at her with keen, bright eyes. “Poor little devil!” he thought, “perhaps she isn’t so bad after all.” Then aloud he said: “I suppose when you went to the Twitcher’s room your intention was to steal?”
She hesitated. After all, what did it matter? “Yes,” she answered. “I went down there to steal.”
“You also stole the money belonging to the Swede women....”
“No, I didn’t do that. I swear I didn’t....”
He looked at her steadily. He did not believe her.
“What are you going to do now?”
“I don’t know.”
“What’s going to become of you?”
“I don’t know.”
He leaned back, his hands clasping his knee. He noted a tress of bright gold hair coiling over her hollow cheek.
“I mustn’t leave her to her fate,” he thought.
Bending forward he said impulsively: “Look here, let me lend you some money.”
A deep flush stained her cheek. He, too, was one of them ... the beasts. Sharply she answered:
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t choose to accept your aid.”
“It seems to me you’re not in a position to refuse it; you haven’t a sou. To-morrow you’re to be turned out of your room. Madam will certainly keep all your belongings. You will have nowhere to go. You have no friends here. You are not fit to do any work. You are on the verge of a break-down. Again I ask ... what’s going to become of you?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does. Look here ... suppose I lay a charge against you of entering my room with intent to steal,—will you deny it?”
“Well then, you are in my power. You must submit to my conditions.”
She looked at him sullenly. “What are they?”
“I’m not going to lend you any money, but I am going to help you in my own way. First of all, I want you to promise me that you will never enter the Casino again.”
She laughed bitterly. “I’ll promise that. I hate the place.”
“Now, I’m taking a room in the Condamine. I want you to come there and be my housekeeper.”
She could not keep the contempt out of her eyes.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he said sharply. “I see you don’t understand.”
“You don’t mean ... that?”
“No, damn it, I don’t mean—that.”
She looked at him with new interest, steadily, wonderingly. He went on: “It’s a big room. We’ll divide it into three, with screens and curtains. There will be your part, and my part, and a common one to be used as a kitchen and dining-room. Don’t fear. You’ll be as safe behind your curtain as if you were in a room with doors double-locked.”
She had never met a man like this. Wonder widened her eyes. He laughed to see it, a frank boyish laugh.
“Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? I don’t see why it won’t work, though. If I were a Frenchman, it surely wouldn’t. But we Anglo-Saxons are a cold-blooded lot. We’re idealists, given to doing strange, mad things. I give you my word of honour I will respect you as I would a sister. There you have it. We will be brother and sister. We are enough alike to pass for that. I had intended to do my own cooking, but that will be your job now. Then, while you are resting quietly and getting back your health, I will attack the Casino and get back your money.”
“How will you do that?”
“By playing. I hate to play, but if I do I have an idea I can win. At least I can afford to risk a thousand francs and with that I propose to win back the two thousand you need to take you to Paris.”
“No, no. You mustn’t play. No one ever wins there. You’ll lose everything.”
“Leave it to me. Come on now, it’s decided. That you trust me, is all I ask. Everything will come out right. In six weeks I promise you I’ll send you back to Paris with enough money to start your little shop. Brother and sister,—n’est ce pas?”
She shrugged her shoulders helplessly. “I am in your hands. You can do with me as you will.”
Again he laughed that boyish laugh. “There! don’t look so tragic. Everything’s lovely. Come on, we’ll get back to the pension.”
They walked in silence through the exotic gardens. The pink clock in the tower of the Casino pointed to half an hour after midnight; the shutters were descending over the entrance doors. He looked at the place with a new interest. Hitherto it had meant nothing to him. Now he saw in it an antagonist. He was looking on a battle-ground where he would win or fall. On the morrow the fight would begin.
So absorbed was he that he forgot the girl by his side. Then a soft sound aroused him. He looked down and saw that she was crying.
END OF BOOK TWO