It was a painful meeting, nevertheless. Girlie was at the limit of endurance. In the pitiless view of the evil genius who had brought a highly respectable daughter of suburbia to the verge of ruin she looked even more rabbit-like than when she had seen her last. And at that moment Elfreda’s paramount desire was to shake her.
“I hope you don’t mean that you are going to run away?” There was a nascent ferocity that threatened actual bodily violence.
“I—I don’t know,” gasped the visitor.
“You don’t mean to say they’ve found out!”
Girlie reluctantly admitted that they had not yet actually done so, but that it was as certain as anything could be that the hour was near when all must be discovered.
“Not necessarily,” was the Stoic’s answer, “if only you keep on doing your best.”
But there is a limit to human endurance and Miss Cass seemed to have reached it already. Besides she was now in very deep waters indeed and in no sense was she a strong swimmer. Alarming developments threatened continually and she now felt that she simply could not go on.
However, she was in the toils of an implacable will.
“You are bound to go through with it now,” said the pitiless Elfreda. “It will let them down shamefully if you run away before the performance. You must at least wait until afterwards.”
“But I am sure to be found out.”