Was Stella there? She did not believe him. And yet it might be true. She grasped at the straw which Stella’s presence offered.
“Here we are,” grunted Gregory, as he stopped the car before the Towers door and slipped out on to the gravel.
Before she realized what he was doing, he had lifted her in his arms, though she struggled desperately.
“If you scream I’ll kiss you,” growled his voice in her ear, and she lay passive.
The door opened instantly. She looked down at the servant standing stolidly in the hall, as Gregory carried her up the wide stairway, and wondered what help might come from him. Presently Penne set her down on her feet and, opening a door, thrust her in.
“Here’s your friend, Stella,” he said. “Say the good word for me! Knock some sense into her head if you can. I’ll come back in ten minutes, and we’ll have the grandest little wedding supper that any bridegroom ever had.”
The door was banged and locked upon her before she realized there was another woman in the room. It was Stella. Her heart rose at the sight of the girl’s white face.
“Oh, Miss Mendoza,” she said breathlessly, “thank God you’re here!”
CHAPTER XXXVI
THE ESCAPE
“Don’t start thanking God too soon,” said Stella with ominous calm. “Oh, you little fool, why did you come here?”