There were enough of them to separate the men. They dragged Harlan away out of the room in spite of his struggles. The mere sight of the lawyer seemed to infuriate him more.
The Duke hurried the girl out and away while the peacemakers were struggling with the young combatants.
"Stop that blubbering," he commanded, roughly. "If you've got any grit left in you, brace up. Don't let people here notice!"
He was trying to hide as much of the true reason for the affray as he could. He wanted to get the girl out of sight.
"I didn't know—I did nothing—if it was about me I didn't—" He stopped her brutally.
"About you, you little fool? Of course it wasn't about you! My grandson is going to marry Luke Presson's daughter."
She stiffened in the hook of his arm. They were in the corridor and had not come into the view of the people.
"Every one knows it," he hurried on. He saw an opportunity to get in a cruel blow at the romance he suspected and hated. "They have been going together for months. She'll be the right kind of a wife for him. They were fighting about her—those two young hyenas."
She pulled away from him. The tears were on her cheeks, but she held herself straight and looked him in the eye.
"That's a lie, Mr. Thornton!"