Richmond shrugged his shoulders. “I offered to drop the Vanderkief marriage. I offered to take her back. I begged her to come back.”
“But you didn’t tell her she could marry Wade.”
“Yes, I did!” confessed he. “Yes—I did even that.”
Mrs. Richmond frankly showed her incredulity; and that there might be no doubt, she said: “I don’t believe it.”
“Do you think I’ve got no sense? I saw what the scandal would mean. Besides—” Richmond did not give his other reason. He was too ashamed of his weakness of love for the girl to expose it.
By this time Mrs. Richmond had recovered. “And is that all you’ve done?”
“All?” he cried. “All? What else could I do?”
“Get her the man.”
“Get her the man?” repeated he, as if trying in vain to understand.
“She doesn’t trust you—and you can’t be surprised at that. You’ve got to get her the man. You’ve mismanaged this thing from the start. You’ve driven her on and on until now there’s only the one chance left.”