The Saint and the Sinner Read Online Free PDF Page A

look at the Earl as she went on hesitatingly,
    “I – I thought that if I – stayed here – Mr. Witheridge would not wish to – associate with me.”
    For a moment there was silence, then the Earl laughed uproariously.
    He laughed until he coughed. Then for the first time he straightened himself in the chair and, taking his leg from the arm of it he said,
    “I follow your reasoning and, my God! Is it a jest? A funnier one I have never heard – that you should come to me – me, of all people – to save you from the attentions of a Parson!”
    He rose from the chair as he spoke and walked across the room to where there was a grog-tray. He filled his glass from a decanter and said,
    “I fear I have been lamentably inhospitable in not offering you any refreshment. Is there anything you would like?”
    “N – no – thank you.”
    Now Pandora looked at him and her eyes were very anxious in her pale face.
    “You really want to do this outrageous thing?” the Earl asked, coming back to stand on the hearthrug, his glass in his hand.
    “There is – no other way,” Pandora said earnestly. “You must see I am trapped. Uncle Augustus is my Guardian, and when Papa and Mama were killed – no-one else offered to have me to – live with them.”
    “What will happen if you simply say you will not marry this man you dislike so intensely?” the Earl asked, and now he was not jeering.
    “They will – force me to do so,” Pandora said in a low voice. “I do not think in law that I have any – choice, and my aunt – dislikes me and is anxious to be – rid of me.”
    She paused before she added,
    “She is quite old, but I think, although it sounds conceited, that she is a little – jealous of me.”
    “That is not surprising.”
    The Earl drank from his glass before he added,
    “There must be some alternative to what you are suggesting. You realise what will be said about you if you stay here.”
    “Yes – I understand,” Pandora said. “But – please, do let me stay – just for two nights. I am sure that after that Mr. Witheridge will change his mind. He is very conscious of his own – consequence, and he says that you have made this place a – house of sin!”
    “Damn his impertinence!” the Earl said. “What can someone like him know about sin, and who is he to sit in judgement upon me?”
    “You have certainly – scandalised the – neighbourhood.”
    “That is exactly what I meant to do.”
    His eyes narrowed and there was a sudden, hard line to his mouth.
    “I wanted them to be shocked and horrified and that includes my relatives – all of them, including you!”
    There was a harsh note in his voice and what seemed to Pandora almost a cruel look in his eyes. Then he said,
    “But of course! Why am I hesitating? Come and stay, little Pandora. Walk into my hornets’ nest. Make yourself comfortable in the house of sin. I welcome you – I welcome you with open arms!”
    “Do you really mean that?”
    “Have I not told you I am prepared to be your host and invite you to be my guest for as long as you wish to stay? My house is yours!”
    “Oh, thank you! Thank you!” Pandora cried. “Then do you think a servant could give this note to the coachmen and tell them to return to Lindchester without me?”
    “What is it?” the Earl asked.
    “It is a letter to Mr. Witheridge to tell him where I am.”
    “You have certainly thought of everything!”
    “I tried to,” Pandora answered. “He comes back tonight from having visited his father, and when he learns I am here I think he will be both – horrified and – disgusted!”
    “I am sure he will be!” the Earl said, and there was a note of satisfaction in his voice.
    “I have brought a trunk with me,” Pandora said, “hoping that you would be kind enough to let me stay.”
    The Earl put out his hand to the bell-pull and almost immediately the door opened.
    “Take this note to Miss Stratton’s carriage and tell the coachmen to return