"I'm very sorry," he said, "but until I've seen those in charge of him, and have their permission to tell you——"
"I have a right to know."
Every winced. Then he looked up boldly.
"As Colonel Winchester's fiancée?" he said.
André caught her breath. Then she bowed her head.
"As a most miserable woman," she said brokenly. "Somewhere it says,
'From him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.'
… Well, it's as one of those outcasts … one of those hopeless
double bankrupts——"
"Stop!" cried Every, aghast. "Stop! I don't want to hear…. Listen. I'll be at Girdle till Friday. That day I'll leave a note for you at the inn, with Lyveden's address inside."
He had, I suppose, some vague idea of getting to Hampshire before her.
For a second the girl stared at him with knitted brows. Then—
"You appear," she said coldly, "to be not only a fool, but a poisonous fool. After all, if you won't tell me, I suppose there are other ways…." She picked up the reins. "And so you're a friend of Major Lyveden's? To tell you the truth, I shouldn't have thought he'd have had much use for you."