"You should not have told him so, Rhoda."
"I did, and I will not let my word be broken."
"Pardon me if I ask you where you will get the money? It's a large sum."
"I will get it," Rhoda said firmly.
"By the sale of the farm?"
"No, not to hurt father."
"But this man's a scoundrel. I know him. I've known him for years. My fear is that he will be coming to claim his wife. How was it I never insisted on seeing the man before—! I did think of asking, but fancied- -a lot of things; that you didn't wish it and he was shy. Ah, Lord! what miseries happen from our not looking straight at facts! We can't deny she's his wife now."
"Not if we give him the money."
Rhoda spoke of "the money" as if she had taken heated metal into her mouth.
"All the more likely," said Robert. "Let him rest. Had you your eyes on him when he saw me in the vestry? For years that man has considered me his deadly enemy, because I punished him once. What a scene! I'd have given a limb, I'd have given my life, to have saved you from that scene, Rhoda."