“Well, I don’t know—I can’t help hesitating to tell you, Mrs. Lawson,” Dorothy began timidly.
“There’s no need to be afraid of anything,” replied the woman, only half veiling the sneer that went with the words.
“Oh, but you see, there is, Mrs. Lawson!” Dorothy’s manner was still indecisive. “I don’t want—in fact, I hate awfully to hurt you this way.”
“Hurt me!” Mrs. Lawson’s cigarette snapped into the fireplace like a miniature comet. “Hurt me, child? What in the wide world are you talking about?”
“Just what I say, Mrs. Lawson.”
Mrs. Lawson sniffed. “Don’t be ridiculous, Janet. Out with it now. What did you fear when you were locked in your room?”
“Your husband, Mrs. Lawson.”
“My husband!”
“Yes.”
“But—why—I don’t believe you.”