Page:The Prime Minister by Hall Caine.djvu/175

Rh  Your secret has been kept, your safety has been secured, your family have thus far remained unmolested?  Yes.  Then where is your gratitude, your honesty, your honour? You have not only broken your pledge to me, but your oath before God. [The girl stands silent, with head bowed.] Why have you broken it? If you have anything to say, I ask you to say it. You are a woman—I have no wish to be hard on you. There may be circumstances which explain, if they do not excuse, your conduct. Are there? [Still the girl stands silent.] Has any constraint been put upon you—any compulsion?  No, sir.  You spoke of a brother—is he ill?  No.  You said he was hot and headstrong—is he in any kind of danger?

 [Hesitating.] No.  Are you in any danger? [The girl catches her breath.] Your friends—the people who encouraged