"With this man standing by her side?"
He started, then he shook his head.
"I know what you mean!" he said, hoarsely. "And do you not see that that is the worst of it. She is in his power; there is some secret understanding between them. Can I marry a woman who is in another man's power so completely that she is forced to break her word to me, to jilt me for him!—can I?"
His voice was so hoarse and harsh as to be almost inarticulate, and he stood with outstretched, appealing hands, as if demanding an answer.
What could she say? For a moment she was silent, then she put out her hand to him.
"And you have left her with him, Ley?"
The question sent all the blood from his face.
"Yes," he said, wearily, "I have left her with her future husband. Possibly, probably, by this time she has become his wife. One man can procure a marriage license as easily as another."
"You did that! What would papa and my mother have said?" she murmured.