"He said he would not have my answer that night; he would wait until young Peter came home."
"And you, of course, refrained from giving him an answer?"
"No. I told him that he could act as he pleased. Did I feel it a duty to inform the authorities concerning what I knew, I should do so without threat."
"And what did he say?"
"He denied all knowledge of threat. He called it an arrangement. He used honeyed terms; he was full of flattery. He professed to be delighted at my refusal to comply with his wishes, even while he used many means to lead me to alter my mind. He called himself all sorts of names for speaking to me in such a brutal way. He was only an old fool, he said, and had not stated the case properly; but when young Peter came back everything would assume a different aspect."
I could easily imagine the scheming old wretch while she told me of this interview. I could see his shifty, cunning eyes gleaming. I could hear him using all sorts of honeyed terms in order to gain his ends.
"And the conclusion of it all?" I asked at length.
"I left the house that night."
"How?"