“But Mr. Whitewell promised he’d tell Philip if it turned out that Philip became too worried about—”
“That,” I said, “is all I wanted to know.”
“What?”
I said, “That means Whitewell took you for a ride.”
“I don’t see how.”
“Don’t you understand? If he’d ever explained it to Philip, he’d necessarily have to tell Philip how he knew, and in order to do that, he’d have to admit to Philip thathe’d been a party to the deception, that he’d talked with you, that he was the one who had kept you from waiting to see Philip and telling him the whole story. Philip would probably have forgiven you — and something could have been worked out. Arthur Whitewell could have had some so-called important New York business deal take Philip back east. The wedding could have been postponed until he returned, and Whitewell could have explained to his friends that it was just a postponement. And during that time, you could have secured your divorce from Jannix. Philip will never forgive his father for handling the situation in this way. And if he knows the real facts now he’ll never forgive you.”
She said, “I can’t understand. Why, I thought you were working for Mr. Whitewell.”
“He employed me.”
“Well?”
“But,” I said, “he employed me to find you, to discover why you’d left, and what had happened to you. That was all I had to do, and I’ve done it.”