"Oh," Sylvia gasped and lay back on her chair, "she killed him, that cruel woman."
"She did not," cried Maud, passionately, "my mother is perfectly innocent. That blackguard Hurd arrested her wrongfully. I overheard all the conversation he had with her, and know that he told a pack of lies. My mother did not kill our father."
"My father, not yours," said Sylvia, firmly.
"How dare you. Lemuel Krill was my father."
"No," insisted Sylvia. "I don't know who your father was. But from your age, I know that you are not—"
"Leave my age alone," cried the other sharply, and with an uneasy movement of her hands; "we won't discuss that, or the question of my father. We have more interesting things to talk about."
"I won't talk to you at all," said Sylvia, rising.
"Sit down and listen. You shall hear me. I am not going to let my mother suffer for a deed she never committed, nor am I going to let you have the money."
"It is mine."