Katherine pressed him down into his chair at the desk, sat down in one beside it, and took his hand.
“Now, father, tell me just how things stand.”
“You know everything already,” said he.
“Not everything. I know the charges of the other side, and I know your innocence. But I do not know your explanation of the affair.”
He ran his free hand through his silver hair, and his face grew troubled.
“My explanation agrees with what you have read, except that I did not know I was being bribed.”
“H’m!” Her brow wrinkled thoughtfully and she was silent for a moment. “Suppose we go back to the very beginning, father, and run over the whole affair. Try to remember. In the early stages of negotiations, did the agent say anything to you about money?”
He did not speak for a minute or more.
“Now that I think it over, he did say something about its being worth my while if his filter was accepted.”
“That was an overture to bribe you. And what did you say to him?”