I thought that he was
coming for me just now and I was about to do it, but it was you instead,
Alan, _you_, and only just in time. That is all the story, and I hope
you will not think that I have acted very foolishly, but I did it for
the best. If you only knew what I have suffered, Alan, what I have gone
through in one way and another, I am sure that you would not judge me
harshly; also I kept dreaming that you were in trouble and wanted me to
come to you, and of course I knew where you were gone and had that map.
Send him away, Alan, for I am still so weak and I cannot bear the sight
of his face. If you knew everything, you would understand."
Alan turned on Aylward and in a cold, quiet voice asked him what he had
to say to this story.
"I have to say, Major Vernon, that it is a clever mixture of truth
and falsehood. It is true that your cousin, Champers-Haswell, has been
proved guilty of some very shameful conduct. For instance it appears
that he did forge, or rather cause to be forged that Firman from
the Sultan, although I knew nothing of this until it was publicly
repudiated. It is also true that fearing exposure he entirely lost his
head and spent not only his own great fortune but that of Miss Champers
also, in trying to support Sahara shares.
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