"No! Don't! I can't—"
But she could get no farther. Something seemed to choke her, and make it impossible for her to continue.
Her husband looked at her in amazement. She turned away, and was silent.
"Thank you," said Pell to Gilbert. Then, to his wife he said: "And now that this is settled, we shall proceed to other business of even more importance. This gentle soul," looking at Uncle Henry, "has said that our friend loves you and that you love him. Is it true?" He was perfectly calm.
Once more he was the crafty, cruel, scheming man; and back into his eyes came that glitter she so feared.
Gilbert, astonished, got to the other side of the table.
"I thought we were through with all that!" he said. "What's the use of harping on it?"
"You were wrong," answered Pell, coldly. "I am a business man, as I told you before. I do one thing at a time." His lids half closed, his hands clenched. He swerved abruptly on his wife. "Well?" he said. "Well?"
"You mean to say," said Gilbert, "that you took seriously what my doddering old uncle said? I told you I thought he was crazy, and you seemed to agree with me. What are you talking about now?"