"Kate Pollard."
"Miss Pollard has some news of Terry. I thought it might—interest you,
Elizabeth."
Kate saw the brief struggle on the face of the old woman. When it passed, her eyes were as dull as ever, but her voice had become husky.
"I'm surprised, Vance. I thought you understood—his name is not to be spoken, if you please."
"Of course not. Yet I thought—never mind. If you'll step downstairs with me, Miss Pollard, and tell me what—"
"Not a step," answered the girl firmly, and she had not moved her eyes from the face of the elder woman. "Not a step with you. What I have to say has got to be told to someone who loves Terry Hollis. I've found that someone. I stick here till I've done talking."
Vance Cornish gasped. But Elizabeth opened her eyes, and they brightened—but coldly, it seemed to Kate.
"I think I understand," said Elizabeth Cornish gravely. "He has entangled the interest of this poor girl—and sent her to plead for him. Is that so? If it's money he wants, let her have what she asks for, Vance. But I can't talk to her of the boy."
"Very well," said Vance, without enthusiasm. He stepped before her. "Will you step this way, Miss Pollard?"
"Not a step," she repeated, and deliberately sat down in a chair. "You'd better leave," she told Vance.