"Well," she said, "I am a Catholic, so of course I don't agree with you. But why do you hesitate to give the child up to me?"
I was silent for a moment. It was not easy to put my feeling into words.
"Lady Delahaye," I said, "you must forgive my reminding you that on the occasion of your visit to us you did not attempt to conceal the fact that your feelings towards her were inimical. Beyond that, I was pledged not to hand her back into your husband's care, and——"
"Pledged by whom?" she asked quickly.
"I am afraid," I said, "that I cannot answer you that question."
She flashed an angry glance upon me.
"You pretend that the man who called himself Grooten was not your friend. Yet you have been in communication with him since!"
"I saw Mr. Grooten for the first time in my life on the morning of that day," I answered.
"You know where he is now?" she asked, watching me keenly.
"I have not the slightest idea. I wish that I did know," I declared truthfully. "There is no man whom I am more anxious to see."