Betty had taken no note of distance or direction and she came to a realization of her surroundings only when the roar of traffic sounded in her ears, and she found that she had traversed the park and was within a few blocks of the North Drive. As she hurried homeward she forced her thoughts resolutely to the future and the work which still lay to her hand, but the long hours of early evening loomed before her, robbed of the absorbing study which had proved such a stimulating relief from the continuous mental strain; and the days to come would be empty indeed with the budding friendship, which had come to mean so much to her, brought so swiftly to an end.
She was dispirited, tired in mind and body as she entered the gates of home, and her feet lagged wearily along the path. The house looked blank and forbidding, and the wind soughed dismally in the sagging branches of the trees.
Faintly the high-strung wailing note of a dog's whine reached her and she remembered her encounter with Demon when first she walked in the snowy garden. Would the dog know her again, if chance should deliver her to his mercy?
Memory returned to her also of that other encounter in the same hour when, unconscious of her presence, Wolvert had passed her place of concealment as if racing with the very fiends of darkness, cowardly fear stamped upon every lineament of his dark face. Why had he avoided her since their mutual surprise meeting in the library? Was he deliberately evading the issue or delaying it for some sinister purpose of his own?
She had reached the clump of trees through which the path wound, and even as her thoughts were centered on Wolvert the man himself stepped from the tangle of evergreens which had screened her on the former occasion, and confronted her. It was evident from his smile and air of easy assurance that he had lain in wait for her, and Betty's first feeling of dismay was superseded by a sensation of relief that the long anticipated moment had arrived and the contest between them at immediate issue.
"You have been long upon your foraging expedition, Little Mouse, and you have strayed far from your hiding place." He laid his hand upon her arm in an insolent assumption of familiarity. "Not so fast, my dear. The mistress you serve so conscientiously is not in need of your presence and the time has come for an understanding between us."
"I have nothing to say to you, Mr. Wolvert." She met his sneering smile with one of calm defiance. "I think we understand each other fairly well."
"Perhaps, but the knowledge has not yet accrued to our mutual advantage. We have been working at cross purposes and that means disaster. I warned you once that a friend at court is not to be despised, but as an enemy you would not find it advisable to cross swords with me. I do not underestimate your pluck and resourcefulness; sheer admiration for your audacity has stayed my hand against you so far. Your move in carrying the war into my camp by going to Mrs. Atterbury with your naïve little story was a bold one. Gad, you even explained away the evidence against you, the electric torch, better than I did later, I don't mind confessing; but do you suppose I could not have smashed your transparent subterfuge to atoms if I had wished?"
"Why did you not, in that case?" Betty asked coolly. "I am not in the least afraid of you or what you can do. Come now to Mrs. Atterbury if you care to; I will go with you to face her and she shall choose between us."
His grip upon her arm tightened.