"But what am I to do?" she cried. "But where am I to turn?"
"Mrs. Minchin," said Steel, "can you not really trust me yet?"
He stood before her under a street lamp, handsome still, upright for all
his years, strong as fate itself, and surely kinder than any fate which
Rachel Minchin had yet met with in the course of her short but
checkered life. And yet--and yet--she trusted and distrusted him too!
"I can and I cannot," she sighed; and even with the words one reason
occurred to her. "You have followed me, you see, after all!"
"I admit it," he replied, "and without a particle of shame. My dear
lady, I was not going to lose sight of you to-night!"
"And why not?"
"Because I foresaw what might happen, and may happen still! Nay, madam,
it will, if you continue to let your pride sit upon your common sense.
Do you hear them now? That means the police, and when they're dispersed
they'll come this way to King's Road. Any moment they may be upon us.
And there's a hansom dropped from heaven!"
He raised his umbrella, the bell tinkled, the two red eyes dilated and
widened in the night, then with a clatter the horse was pulled up beside
the curb, and Steel spread his hand before the muddy wheel.
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