"Probably, but I shall continue to play until you tell me the meaning of all these things."
"I have told you about the cross----"
"Quite so," interrupted the girl drily, "and I now know why George was assaulted and his mother's cottage robbed."
"You dare to say that I am the guilty person," demanded her father suspiciously.
"Oh no. If you were, you would have the cross; and thus being able to get the two thousand a year, you would not oppose my marriage with George. You are innocent!"
"Thank you for nothing," sneered Hale coolly, "but you can reckon on this, Lesbia, that if I could have knocked down George and have robbed him of the cross I should have done so."
"That is candid, father."
"You asked me to be candid. But, hold your tongue, or else talk sense. You must marry Sargent. I shall not allow you to throw yourself away on that thief, and----"
"Stop!" cried Lesbia, rising indignantly, "you shall not call George names in my hearing. He is no thief."
"Can you prove that?"