No!--whatever else he did, he must keep his secret safe until Bent and Lettie were safely married.

That once accomplished, Cotherstone cared little about the future: Bent could not go back on his wife.

And so Cotherstone endeavoured to calm himself, so that he could scheme and plot, and before night came he paid a visit to his doctor, and when he went home that evening, he had his plans laid.
Bent was with Lettie when Cotherstone got home, and Cotherstone presently got the two of them into a little snuggery which he kept sacred to himself as a rule.

He sat down in his easy chair, and signed to them to sit near him.
"I'm glad I found you together," he said.

"There's something I want to say.