"Where were you?" demanded Mrs. Maroney. "I am suspicious of you all!"
Madam Imbert drew herself up with an air of offended dignity which spoke more than words.
"I am sorry I have offended you!" said Mrs. Maroney quickly. "Please forgive me! I am so nervous that for a time I mistrusted even you and thought you had gone for a policeman or a detective; let's have dinner and go."
When they were on the return journey, Mrs. Maroney said:
"I feel much better on the road with you alone than when in the city. I want to talk continually, and you are the only one to whom I dare talk. However excited or miserable I may feel, companionship with you always makes me feel happy and contented."
At the various taverns they passed on the road Mrs. Maroney always stopped and invoked the aid of stimulants to cheer her up. She suddenly turned to Madam Imbert and asked:
"Would you be willing to run away with me? We could go down into Louisiana, where we are not known, buy a small place in some out of the way town and live secluded for four or five years, until our existence was forgotten, and then make our appearance once more in the fashionable world, with plenty of money to maintain our position; or we might go to New York and from there to England and the continent."
"Yes, we could do all that if we had the money," said the Madam; "but you forget that at this time we cannot use it."
"You have plenty of money of your own and you might let me stop with you for three or four years, as by that time we could use the express' money without any risk."