Suppose he should be the first one to tell my husband of the foul slander invented by you!" For an instant Mrs.Horncastle was taken aback by the audacity of the woman before her.

She knew the simple confidence and boyish trust of Barker in his wife in spite of their sometimes strained relations, and she knew how difficult it would be to shake it.

And she had no idea of betraying Mrs.Barker's secret to him, though she had made this scene in his interest.

She had wished to save Mrs.Barker from a compromising situation, even if there was a certain vindictiveness in her exposing her to herself.

Yet she knew it was quite possible now, if Mrs.Barker had immediate access to her husband, that she would convince him of her perfect innocence.