"What sort of thing?"
"This enmity you have towards me. I don't know why you are behaving so exasperatingly," wailed Maud plaintively. "When you came to Henley, it was the first time we met, and for your father's sake I was anxious to make a friend of you. But you were so rude and so silly that I could not. But I am willing to make every allowance for your want of training, and so I have come here to ask you to be friends."
"Oh, I don't mind, provided you will leave George alone."
"I shan't, so there. I love him."
"So do I. And as he loves me I have the prior claim."
"But you have broken your engagement and so have left the field open to me. Don't be a dog in the manger."
"I am not. I love George and I have always loved him. I sent the letter I did because of what my father told me. You lured George into a trap, and--as you said yourself at Henley--you can get him arrested. Because of your attitude I was compelled to dismiss him, or see him ruined."
Miss Ellis put up her lorgnette with an air of triumph. "You have stated the case accurately, save for one remark," she declared. "I can ruin George Walker, and I shall do so unless he marries me. But I did not lure him into a trap. I merely took advantage of circumstances."
"Which you knew existed."
"What do you mean by that?"