hell all last summer; why I saw you, though I'm such a blinde bat now,
last night, when neither Denis nor Lucy did. And that's why I want
you and your boy to come and keep me company now, till the end."

Peter put out his hand and took Lord Evelyn's.

"I don't know what I can say to thank you. I do appreciate it, you know,
more than anything that's ever happened to me before. I can't think how
you can be so awfully nice to me...."

"Enough, enough," said Lord Evelyn. "Will you or won't you? Yes or no?"

Peter at that gave his answer quickly.

"No. I can't, you know."

Lord Evelyn turned on him sharply.

"You _won't_? The devil take it!"

"It's like this," said Peter, disturbed and apologetic, "we don't want to
lead what's called respectable lives, Thomas and I. We don't want to be
well-off--to live with well-off people. We--we can't, d'you see. It's not
the way we're made. We don't belong. We're meant just to drift about the
bottom, like this, and pick up a living anyhow."

"The boy's a fool," remarked Lord Evelyn, throwing back his head and
staring at the roof.

Peter, who hated to wound, went on, "If we could share the life of any