In other words, she was making a fool of him! Those half-formed good resolutions which Calumet had made a few minutes before entering the house had fled long ago; he snarled now as he realized what a fool he had been for making them.

Betty had been leading him on.

He had been under the spell of her influence; he had been allowing her to shape his character to her will; he was, or had been, in danger of becoming a puppet which she could control by merely pulling some strings.

She had been working on his better nature with selfish aims.
Who was the man?
Malcolm?
Dade?
He thought not; the voice sounded strangely like Neal Taggart's.

This suspicion enraged him, and he stepped back, intending to hurl himself against the door in an effort to smash it in.