He waited a long moment, the frown gathering more darkly. He had still hoped, it seemed, that she might deny it.
“Oh, I know it, all right,” he muttered, glowering.
Her laughter rather surprised him. “Your keenness does you credit,” she continued. “I met a stranger in the woods and stayed at his camp. There’s nothing extraordinary in that——”
“No,” he interrupted quickly. “Not in that. The extraordinary thing is that you should have——” he hesitated.
“Lied about it?” she suggested calmly. “Oh, I don’t think we need discuss that. I’m not in the habit of talking over my personal affairs.”
Her indifference inflamed him further and his eyes gleamed maliciously.
“It’s a pity Gallatin hasn’t a similar code.”
Her eyes opened wide. “What—do—you—mean?” she asked haltingly.
“That Gallatin is telling of the adventure himself,” he said with a bold laugh.
“He is telling—of—the—adventure—” she repeated, and then paused, her horrified eyes peering straight ahead of her. “Oh, how odious of him—how odious! There is nothing to tell—Coley—absolutely nothing—” And then as a new thought even more horrible than those that had gone before crossed her mind, “What are they saying? Has he—has he spoken my name? Tell me. I can’t believe that of him—not that!”