Collected works > Edinburgh edition, 1894-98 - Works of Robert Louis Stevenson > Volume 7, 1895 - Tales and Fantasies, Volume II

THE DYNAMITER
At the very corner from whence he had spied upon
her interview, she came upon him, still transfixed,
and — ' Ah ! ' she cried, with a bright flush of colour.
' Ah ! Ungenerous ! '
The sharpness of the attack somewhat restored
the Squire of Dames to the possession of himself.
' Madam,' he returned, with a fair show of stout-
ness, ' I do not think that hitherto you can complain
of any lack of generosity ; I have suffered myself to
be led over a considerable portion of the metropolis ;
and if I now request you to discharge me of my
office of protector, you have friends at hand who will
be glad of the succession.'
She stood a moment dumb.
' It is well,' she said. ' Go ! go, and may God
help me ! You have seen me — me, an innocent girl !
fleeing from a dire catastrophe and haunted by
sinister men ; and neither pity, curiosity, nor honour
move you to await my explanation or to help in my
distress. Go ! ' she repeated. ' I am lost indeed. '
And with a passionate gesture she turned and fled
along the street.
Challoner observed her retreat and disappear, an
almost intolerable sense of guilt contending with the
profound sense that he was being gulled. She was
no sooner gone than the first of these feelings took
the upper hand ; he felt, if he had done her less than
justice, that his conduct was a perfect model of the
ungracious ; the cultured tone of her voice, her
choice of language, and the elegant decorum of her
movements, cried out aloud against a harsh con-
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