"Yes, I came to bring you this petition, which is to be sent up to the Home Secretary on behalf of Jim Hurd, and--and--to _beg_ of you and Aldous to sign it, if in any way you can.

I know it will be difficult, but I thought I might--I might be able to suggest something to you--to convince you--as I have known these people so well--and it is very important to have your signatures." How crude it sounded--how mechanical! She felt that she had not yet command of herself.

The strange place, the stately room, the consciousness of Aldous behind her--Aldous, who should have been on her side and was not--all combined to intimidate her.
Lord Maxwell's concern was evident.

In the first place, he was painfully, unexpectedly struck by the change in the speaker.

Why, what had Aldous been about?
So thin! so frail and willowy in her black dress--monstrous! "My dear," he said, walking up to her and laying a fatherly hand on her shoulder, "my dear, I wish I could make you understand how gladly I would do this, or anything else, for you, if I honourably could.