“Deny—if you like! It will have no conviction with me—or with her. Look at her, Mr. Gallatin,” he said, his finger pointing. “There are limits even to her credulity. She will hardly be pleased to learn of the accident to the motor which obliged you and your companion—very opportunely, indeed, to spend the night in a——”
“Stop, sir!” Gallatin’s hand was extended and his voice dominated. “Say what you like about me. I’ve invited that, but I’ll not listen while you rob a woman of her name.”
Jane stood like an ivory figure in the pale light, her eyes dark with incomprehension, searching Gallatin’s face for the truth.
“There was a woman?” she asked.
Gallatin hesitated.
“Yes, there was a woman. There needn’t be any mystery about that. I wasn’t aware that there had been any mystery. It was Nina Jaffray. We were stranded back in the country coming from the ‘Pot and Kettle.’ We found a farmhouse and stayed there. There wasn’t anything else to do. You can’t mean that you believe——!”
Jane had turned from him and walked toward the door.
“It hadn’t been my intention to mention the lady’s name,” Loring laughed. “But since Mr. Gallatin has seen fit to do so——”
“You’re going too far, Mr. Loring. There are ways of reaching a man even of your standing in the community.”
Loring chuckled.