“‘The Waldorf,’ I answered, naming the first place that came into my head.
“‘How convenient! I am staying there also; so, instead of discussing our little differences in the street, let us drive back to the hotel at once,’ and, before I realised what he was doing, he had hailed a cab. I started back.
“‘Don’t make a scene in public,’ he commanded, and his manner became suddenly so fierce that I was fairly frightened, and obeyed him automatically. A moment later I was being driven rapidly up town.
“‘I don’t live at the Waldorf,’ I at last acknowledged, as we were nearing Thirty-third street.
“‘Of course not, and your name isn’t Smith; I know that; but where shall I tell the coachman to drive to?’
“There was no help for it; I had to give my real address.
“‘And now let us decide when I shall call on you. I don’t mind selecting a time when my rival is out. You see, I am very accommodating—at present,’ he added, significantly.
“What was I to do? I dared not refuse him. I knew you would be out of town the following evening, so agreed to see him then. He did not follow me into the Rosemere, as I was afraid he might, but drove quickly off. I wrote and telegraphed at once to Pa, asking him to make sure that my divorce was perfectly legal. I hoped that I might receive a reassuring answer before the time set for my interview with Brown, in which case I should simply refuse to receive him and confess to you my previous marriage as soon as you returned. Then I should have nothing more to dread from him. That day and the next, however, went by without a word from Father. I couldn’t understand his silence. It confirmed my worst fears. As the time when I expected my tormentor drew near, I became more and more nervous. I feared and hoped I knew not what from this meeting. I told both my girls they might go out, as I did not wish them to know about my expected visitor, and then regretted I had left myself so unprotected. So I got out my Smith & Wesson, and carefully loaded it. I can shoot pretty straight, and Allan was quite aware of that fact, I am glad to say; so I felt happier. He was so very late for his appointment, that I had begun to hope he was not coming at all, when the door-bell rang. As soon as I had let him in I saw that he had been drinking. Strangely enough, that reassured me somewhat; I felt that I and my pistol stood a better chance of being able to manage him in that condition than when that fiendish brain of his was in proper working order. He no longer indulged in gibes and sarcasms, but this time did not hesitate to demand hush money.
“‘What is your price?’ I asked.
“‘A thousand dollars.’