“Mr. Ackerman of the Secret Service who came here in answer to your call.”
“He—has—told—you?”
“Yes, and I know the whole black hideous truth. I know that you hate John Graham, that you have used your devil’s beauty to entrap and betray him.”
“I swear that I love him!” Stella groaned as she sank to a chair.
“As you’ve sworn to him no doubt while you lured him to his ruin. I hate you—I hate you—and I could strangle you!”
The tall lithe form trembling with fury towered above Stella’s shivering little figure.
“Susie, you are mistaken,” she faltered. “Come into the library a moment and I’ll convince you that you are wrong.”
She seized Susie’s hand and led her into the library, sinking again into a chair.
“See, here is a mortgage for ten thousand dollars on this house which I’ve prepared to raise the money for two great lawyers from the North who are coming to defend him.”
“From the North?”