CHAPTER XII.
A REJECTED SUIT.
Jennie Arlington sat disconsolately at a window in Mr. Leonard’s library. She was not alone. Mr. Augustus Wilson occupied a chair by her. They had been conversing for a short time.
“It is a distressing affair to Mr. Leonard,” he said. “This thing of finding himself robbed of valuable goods on every side, and quite unable to trace the thief, is a source of great annoyance, and may prove ruinous in the end.”
“I know it, Mr. Wilson,” she replied, “and wish I could help it.”
“You may be able to do something to help it,” he said, significantly.
“What do you mean?” she exclaimed, with a sudden flashing up.
“Simply that Mr. Leonard saw a piece of the lost silk in your possession. He seems to think that you got it from the boy, Will Somers.”
“Does he?” she asked, coldly.
Her visitor’s sharp glance could detect a nervousness beneath her apparent ease.
“Yes. I might have given him a different idea of the case, but thought it best to keep silent. I know, Miss Arlington, as well as yourself, that you did not get the silk from the boy. I know, as well as you, where it came from. I can appreciate your wish to keep silent, but something is due to Mr. Leonard.”