The Bond of Black

“In no other trade would men and women conform to such rules,” I exclaimed, for she had often told me of these things before. “Who takes the fines?”

“The firm, of course,” she answered. “They’re supposed to go towards the library; but the latter consists of only about fifty worn-out, tattered books which haven’t been added to for the past three years.”

“I don’t wonder that such an existence should crush all life from you. It’s enough to render any one old before their time, slaving away in that place from morning till night, without even sufficient time for your meals. But why are you a favourite?” I asked.

She looked at me for an instant, then dropped her eyes and remained silent.

“I scarcely know,” she faltered at last, and I scented in her indecision an element of mystery.

“But you must be aware of the reason that you are not treated quite as harshly as the others.”

“Well,” she laughed, a slight flush mounting to her cheek, “it may be because of my friendliness towards the shop-walker.”

“The shop-walker!” I exclaimed in surprise, not without some jealous resentment rising within me. “Why are you friendly towards him?”

“Because it is judicious not to offend him,” she said. “One girl did, and within a week she was discharged.”

“But such truckling to a greasy, oily-mouthed tailor’s dummy is simply nauseating,” I cried fiercely. “Do you mean to say that you actually have to smile and be amiable to this man – perhaps even to flirt with him – in order to save yourself from being driven to death?”

“Certainly!” she answered, quite frankly.

“And who is this man?” I inquired, perhaps a trifle harshly.

“The man with whom you saw me on that night when you followed me from Aldersgate Street,” she responded.

“That tall, thin man!” I cried, amazed. “The man who was your lover!”

She nodded, and her eyes were again downcast.

I sat staring at her in amazement. I had never thought of that.

“What’s his name?” I asked quickly.

“Henry Hibbert.”

“And he is shop-walker at your place?”

“Certainly.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this before, when I asked you?” I inquired.

“Because I had no desire that you should sneer at me for walking out with a man of that kind,” she responded. “But now that it is all past, I can fearlessly tell you the truth.”

“But what made you take up with him?” I asked, eager now to at least penetrate some portion of the mystery, for I recollected that night in the Park, when I had overheard this man Hibbert’s strange conversation with Aline.

“I really don’t know what caused me to entertain any regard for him,” she answered.

“How did it come about?”

“We were introduced one night in the Monico. I somehow thought him pleasant and well-mannered, and, I don’t know how it was, but I found myself thinking always of him. We met several times, but then I did not know what he was. I had no idea that he was a shop-walker. It was because of my foolish infatuation, I suppose, that I cast aside your love. But from that moment my regret increased, until I could bear the separation no longer, and I came to-night to seek your forgiveness.”

“But what knowledge of this man had you before that night in the café?” I inquired. “Who introduced you?”

“A girl friend. I knew nothing of him before, and have since come to the conclusion that she knew him but slightly.”

“Then was he, at this time, engaged in the shop in the Holloway Road?” I asked, feeling that this fact should be at once cleared up.

“I think so.”

“Are you absolutely certain?”

“No, I’m not. Why do you ask?”

“Because,” I answered reflectively, “because it is strange that you should have taken an engagement at the very shop where he was employed.”

“It was he who gave me the introduction there,” she said. “Only when I got there and commenced work did I find to my surprise that the man who had interested himself on my behalf was actually the shop-walker. He saw the look of surprise upon my face, and laughed heartily over it.”

“Did you never seek to inquire how long previously he had been employed there?”

“No. It never occurred to me to do so,” she answered.

“But you can discover now easily enough, I suppose?”

“Of course I can,” she replied. “But why are you so anxious to know?”

“I have a reason for desiring to know the exact date on which he entered the firm’s employ,” I said. “You will find it out for me at once, won’t you?”

“If you wish.”

“Then let me know by letter as soon as you possibly can,” I urged quickly.

“But you need not be jealous of him, Clifton,” she said, seeking to reassure me. With her woman’s quick instinct she saw that my anger had been raised against him.

“How can I help being annoyed?” I said. “The facts seem quite plain that he first took service with this firm, and then most probably obtained the dismissal of one of the girls in order to make a vacancy for you. He was in love with you, I suppose,” I added, rather harshly.

“Love was never mentioned between us,” she declared. “We merely went out and about together, and in business he used to chat and joke with me. But as for love – ”

And she laughed scornfully, without concluding her sentence.

“And the other girls were jealous of you – eh?”

She laughed.

“I suppose they were,” she answered.

“Was this man – Hibbert was his name? – an experienced shop-walker?”

“I think so,” she replied. “But he was disliked on account of his harshness and his constant fining of everybody.”