He was silent, while she sat watching him, amazed that he did not at once fiercely resent the insult done her in his absence. After a pause, he said awkwardly:
"I don't invite him. Keralio's the kind of a chap who invites himself."
"But can't you put him out?" she demanded with growing irritation.
"No—I can't," he answered doggedly.
"Why?" she demanded firmly.
"I can't—that's all!"
She looked at him wonderingly, and the color came and went in her face and neck. There was a note almost of contempt in her voice as she demanded:
"What is the hold this creature has on you? Is it something you are ashamed of?"
The blood surged to his face and the veins stood out on his temples like whipcord. Another instant and it had receded, leaving him ghastly pale.
"We have business interests in common, that's all," he said hastily and apologetically. "He has been very useful to me. I don't like him any more than you do, but in business one can't criticize too closely the manners or morals of one's associates."