"If you insist upon hearing all the little details to-night," said
Steele, with a good-humored shrug, "well, I suppose you must hear them;
but I hope you will not insist. I have had to make provisions which you
may very possibly resent, but I thought it would be time enough for us
to quarrel about them in the morning. To-night you need rest and
sustenance, but no excitement; of that God knows you have had enough! No
one will come near you but the maid of whom I spoke; no questions will
be put to you; everything is arranged. But to-morrow, if you feel equal
to it, you shall hear all about me, and form your own cool judgment of
my behavior towards you. Meanwhile won't you trust me--implicitly--until
then?"
"I do," said Rachel, "and I will--until to-morrow."
"Then there are one or two things that I can promise you," said Steel,
with the heartiness of a man who has gained his point. "You will not be
compromised in any sort or kind of way; your self-respect shall not
suffer; nothing shall vex or trouble you, if I can help it, while you
remain at this hotel. And this I guarantee--whether you like it or
not--unless you tell them, not a single soul in the place shall have the
faintest inkling as to who you are.
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