"I would have carried it through. I refused to tell you the truth."
"What truth?"
"That I loved George and that he loved me."
"So you made love to my promised wife behind my back, did you?" cried Beekman, the scorn and contempt he infused into his words fairly scorching Harnash.
"I loved her before you did," protested the other, "but I never said a word to her. I never sought anything from her until--until--I--"
"Until I let him see that I didn't care for you, except as a friend, and that I did care for him," put in Stephanie deftly again.
"What then?"
"I begged that I might tell you the true facts of the case," said Harnash.
"And again I refused," said Stephanie. "I knew that marriage was my father's wish. It had been arranged with your father. I believed that you loved me. There was no other way."
"And did you know that he intended to do this?" asked Beekman in his rage.