i asked if she was the attraction at the cerulean.he owned that she was.he said things of her, the speakers voice quivered, which i do not care to recount at second hand to you.lizzie emmett, 14 hercules buildings, westminster, was on the paper, and it was of you those things were said.me! the actress moved slightly away from the fireplace, speaking with a strength of feeling and an eloquence of gesture which, had she been capable of such efforts on the stage, would have gained her immortality.it may be sport to youi daresay it is, there was a time when i used to think that sort of thing was sportbut it is death to me.death! he has as good as promised that i shall be his wife.i have staked everything upon the fulfilment of his promise.nothing can compensate me for his breaking it.i wont try to make you understand whyyou mightnt understand me if i tried! but if he does, ill go underunder! if you only knew what ive endured since hes begun to tire, youd pity me.im here to ask you to pity me now.were both womenbe generousill be sworn its not of much consequence to yoube good to me.if youll only send him back to me, help me to be his wife, theres nothing i wont do for you, in reason or out of reason.i swear it.ill put it down in black and white in any form you like! with trembling hands she caught hold of lizzies shabby sleeve.but dont be cruel to medont be cruel! lizzie shrunk away from her.youre making a mistake, miss graham, a big mistake! dont say that, for pitys sake, dont say that! show mercy to me, as one day you may want some other woman to show mercy to you.lizzie withdrew herself still farther from the others eager pleading.youve got it all wrong, im not the girl youre taking me for.i dont know no earl of bermondsey, nor yet no earl of anything, and i dont want to.why should you deny it? because its the truth.im straight, i am, and i always have been, and i always mean to be, and if any of your toffs came playing it off on to me hed get a bit more than he quite wanted.the girls tone and manner carried conviction even to her hearer.is it possible that he is known to you under some different name? tell me, what friends have you? the singularity of the request did not seem to occur to lizzie.the reply came as promptly as if the question had been a commonplace.friends? do you mean fellows? the only fellow that ever was a friend to me, and hes only a sort of a one, is joe mason, whats carpenter up at the theatre; hes no earl.ask yourself the questiondo i look the sort of girl an earl would take up with? miss graham felt that she did nothad felt so all along; not although the earl was possessed of such peculiar tastes as was the one in question.you might look different on the stageone can make oneself look like anything there.i might and i mightnt.as far as i know no one ever took me for a beauty even on the stage, not even joe mason.the girls eyes twinkled with laughter, as if the bare possibility of such a thing struck her as comical.her visitor returned to the fireplace.she made a little troubled movement with her hands.i wish you would be frank with me.you must know something of him, even if you dont know him, else how came your name and address to be in his pocket, and why should he claim your acquaintance? it beats me fair, it does.i never gave it him, thats certain.theres a muddle somewhere.is there anyone else of your name at the theatre? if there is i never heard of it, and ive been there now getting on for two years.theres no one else of that name in the ballet, that i do know.have you ever acted for him as a gobetween? just think! ill tell you what he looks like.hes quite young, only twentytwo; short, rather stout, light hair parted on the side, no moustache, red face, blue eyes; and when hes at all excited he speaks as if he had a plum in his mouth.lizzie shook her head.if hes like what you say hes not a beauty, but, so far as i know, i never set eyes on him; and as for being a gobetween, either for him or for anybody else, id scorn to do it.agnes grahams glance returned to the empty grate.she seemed to be reflecting.i believe you.you sound honest, and you look it.but that theres a mystery somewhere im persuaded.im in a desperate strait, and i want you to do something for me.ill pay you for it well