He made a royal gesture that frustrated her with perfect courtesy. "Are you not my wife?" he said.
He opened the door for her, and she had no choice but to go through. She went swiftly, without another glance, and Saltash closed the door behind her.
CHAPTER II
THE VILLAIN SCORES
"Now, sir!" said Saltash, and turned. His tone was brief; the smile had gone from his face. He came to Jake with a certain haughtiness, and stood before him.
Jake squared his shoulders. "So—you've married her!" he said.
"I have." There was a note of challenge in the curt rejoinder. Saltash's brows were drawn.
"I should like to see—proof of that," Jake said, after a moment.
"The devil you would!" Again the hot gleam shone in the odd eyes. Saltash stood for a second in the attitude of a man on the verge of violence. Then, contemptuously, he relaxed.
He lounged back against the mantel-piece and smoked his cigarette. "The devil you would, Jake!" he said again, in a tone so different that the words might have been uttered in another language. "And why—if one be permitted to ask?"