The young man’s heart beat so heavily in plunges, he could not get his breath to speak. It was shock, rather than fear. The form felt towards him. He sprang up, gripped it with his great hands, panting “Now, then!”

There was no resistance, only a little whimper of despair.

“Let me go,” said a woman’s voice.

“What are you after?” he asked, in deep, gruff tones.

“I thought ‘e was ‘ere,” she wept despairingly, with little, stubborn sobs.

“An’ you’ve found what you didn’t expect, have you?”

At the sound of his bullying she tried to get away from him.