"He says ... I'm the cause...."
Her voice faltered.
"What's that?"
Conal's knife and fork clattered to the table.
"Did you know ..." she asked, "did you know, Conal, Steve and father came from the Island over there?"
He moved, uneasily.
"No," he said, but uncertainly. "Who says so?"
"McNab. He did the chain trick here on Steve—scared him to death when he was by himself one afternoon. Seems he wasn't quite sure before, but Steve in his fright gave him all the proofs he wanted. And McNab's promised to use all he knows against father and Steve unless—Says he only put the troopers on to this cattle business to get you and Davey out of the way, though he had another score to work off against Mr. Cameron, too. But he says he always suspected ... about Steve and father, and was only waiting for a chance to be sure of it to make me ... make me marry him."
"By God—"
Conal spun from his chair. His oaths startled the birds from their night perches under the roof.