He seemed to be wearing a disguise; at all events his clothing was that of a working man, poor and worn, and his face was changed by the growth of a beard.  He shivered with cold, and, as Miss Bygrave closed the door behind him, stood with eyes sunk to the ground, in an attitude of misery and shame.  Maud, recovering quickly from the shock his entrance had caused her, approached him and took his hand.

“Father,” she said gently.  Her voice overcame him; he burst into tears and stood hiding his face with the rough cap he held.  Maud turned to her aunt, who remained at a little distance, unmoving, her eyes cast down.  Before any other word was said, the door opened quickly, and Mrs. Enderby ran in with a smothered cry.  Throwing her arms about her husband, she clung to him in a passion of grief and tenderness.  In a moment she had been changed from the listless, childish woman of the last few months to a creature instinct with violent emotion.  Her mingled excess of joy and anguish could not have displayed itself more vehemently had she been sorrowing night and day for her husband’s loss.  Maud was terrified at the scene, and shrunk to Theresa’s side.  Without heeding either, the distracted woman led Paul from the room, and upstairs to her own chamber.  Drawing him to a chair, she fell on her knees beside him and wept agonisingly.

“You will stay with me now?” she cried, when her voice could form words.  “You won’t leave me again, Paul?  We will hide you here.—­ No, no; I am for getting.  You will go away with us, away from London to a safe place.  Maud is going to be married to-morrow, and we will live with her in her new home.  You have suffered dreadfully; you look so changed, so ill.  You shall rest, and I will nurse you.  Oh, I will be a good wife to you, Paul.  Speak to me, do speak to me:  speak kindly, dear!  How long is it since I lost you?”

“I daren’t stay, Emily,” he replied, in a hoarse and broken voice.  “I should be discovered.  I must get away from England, that is my only chance.  I have scarcely left the house where I was hiding all this time.  It wouldn’t have been safe to try and escape, even if I had had any money.  I have hungered for days, and I am weaker than a child.”

He sobbed again in the extremity of his wretchedness.

“It was all for my sake!” she cried, clinging around his neck.  “I am your curse.  I have brought you to ruin a second time.  I am a bad, wretched woman; if you drove me from you with blows it would be less than I deserve!  You can never forgive me; but let me be your slave, let me suffer something dreadful for your sake!  Why did I ever recover from my madness, only to bring that upon you!”

He could speak little, but leaned back, holding her to him with one arm.

“No, it is not your fault, Emily,” he said.  “Only my own weakness and folly.  Your love repays me for all I have undergone; that was all I ever wanted.”

When she had exhausted herself in passionate consolation, she left him for a few moments to get him food, and he ate of it like a famished man.