"You can't stop here," said Lesbia firmly.
"You can't prevent me," said her father, with a sneer.
"I can leave the house, and I will."
"Where will you go?"
"To Mrs. Walker; she will protect me. I will throw myself on her mercy. But I refuse to remain under the same roof as you."
Hale winced at the scorn in her tones. "You seem to forget that you are speaking to your father," he said in an icy manner.
"God help me!" cried the girl, with a gesture of despair; "I wish I could forget. You have brought shame upon me."
"Oh, rubbish," said Hale crossly. "I received a letter from Charvington in London just before I came down to Cookham which stated that if I restored the jewels everything would be hushed up."
"And you will do so?"
"I have to," said Hale grudgingly. "It's an infernal nuisance after all my trouble, but Charvington says that he will set the police on my track if I don't act square. I shall return the jewels to-morrow, and then everything will be put right. There is no disgrace to you."