And you told them that my father died of--of brain trouble, you coward!" Still he stood there, jaw loose, gazing at her as though fascinated; and she smiled and settled deeper in her chair, framing the gilded foliations of the back with her beautiful arms.
"We might as well understand one another now," she said languidly.

"If you mean to get rid of me, there is no use in attempting to couple my name with that of any man; first, because it is untrue, and you not only know it, but you know you can't prove it.

There remains the cowardly method you have been nerving yourself to attempt, never dreaming that I was aware of your purpose." A soft, triumphant little laugh escaped her.

There was something almost childish in her delight at outwitting him, and, very slowly, into his worn and faded eyes a new expression began to dawn--the flickering stare of suspicion.

And in it the purely personal impression of rage and necessity of vengeance subsided; he eyed her intently, curiously, and with a cool persistence which finally began to irritate her.
"What a credulous fool you are," she said, "to build your hopes of a separation on any possible mental disability of mine." He stood a moment without answering, then quietly seated himself.