"'No! You mustn't see him. Let me speak to you—alone.'"
At the sight of Hester's pallid face and entreating eyes Betty's heart softened.
"Please ask Mr. Grimes to wait," she said to Merle, as he withdrew discreetly, and then to the trembling girl: "My poor friend! You're all unstrung. Now tell me, why don't you want me to see this detective?"
"Because I—I lied to you that day—about the purse."
"Lied to me?"
"Yes, I—I did steal the purse."
CHAPTER XXX
THE PENITENT
At Hester's startling avowal, Betty shrank away in involuntary aversion.