'What right have you to withhold it?'
'She is my sister. I must do the best I can for her.'
He laughed in an unpleasant way.
'By throwing her into the path of the man she has always——'
'Stop!' commanded Brenda.
'Why? Why should I stop? I suppose Trist is in England. That is why she came home, no doubt.'
'She has never spoken to Theodore Trist since she married you. Besides, that is not the question. Tell me why you want to find Alice. What do you propose to do?'
'That is my affair!' he muttered roughly. 'You have no business to stand between man and wife. If you persist in doing so, it must be at your own risk, and I tell you plainly that you run a chance of being roughly handled.'
As he spoke he advanced a pace menacingly. Still she never betrayed Trist's presence by the merest glance in his direction. He, however, moved slightly, without making any sound.
Huston looked slowly round the room with bloodshot, horrible eyes.