Was not I, too, greatly indebted to him? Had he not imperiled his life
and given his blood to save the honor of Jane as well as of
Mary--Jane, dearer to me a thousand-fold than the breath of my
nostrils? And was he not suffering at that moment because of this
great service, performed at my request and in my place? If my whole
soul had not gone out to him I should have been the most ungrateful
wretch on earth; worse even than a pair of selfish, careless girls.
But it did go out to him, and I believe I would have bartered my life
to have freed him from another hour in that dungeon.
As soon as the prison gates were opened next morning, I again
importuned the keeper to give Brandon a more comfortable cell, but his
reply was that such crimes had of late become so frequent in London
that no favor could be shown those who committed them, and that men
like Brandon, who ought to know and act better, deserved the maximum
punishment.
I told him he was wrong in this case; that I knew the facts, and
everything would be clearly explained that very day and Brandon
released.
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