Nor had this been deliberate; it was the mere outburst of sudden passion, arising through my intercourse with the young woman.

Otherwise it might never have occurred to him.

So there was seemingly but one answer--Sanchez used this merely as an excuse for the concealment of his real object.

What could that object be?
Could it be Dorothy Fairfax?
I was a long while in actually convincing myself of this probability, and yet no other satisfactory explanation offered itself.

She had exhibited an interest in me from the very first, and he had endeavored to win her attention elsewhere.