“Eduard has gone now,” said Van Naghel, quietly. “I calmed him down; he is coming back to-morrow, to talk things over. You can stay here to-night, Emilie.”
“Papa, I won’t go back to him!”
“No, Emilie,” cried Frances, excitedly, “you can’t go back to him!”
“Be quiet, Frances,” said Van Naghel, severely. And he repeated, “You ... can ... stay here, Emilie ... to-night....”
He suddenly turned purple.
“Tell me what the law is, Papa,” Emilie insisted.
“The law?” asked Van Naghel. “The law?...”
And, almost black in the face, he pulled at his collar.
“Bertha!” he cried, in a hoarse voice.
They were all terrified....