“You are rich, so I don’t think you would mind a thousand dollars, would you?”
“You shall have it!”
“Then my lips are sealed. Get in and let me drive you home, Miss Ellyson. Then I must manage to have the horse and sleigh returned to the stables without exciting suspicion, so you will have to confide in me, don’t you see, so that I can help you better,” shrewdly.
Oh, how it galled her pride to take him into her confidence, but there was no other way, so she said evasively:
“He was Ernest Noel, who fell in love with me and tried to supplant Mr. Laurier in my heart. On this drive he took the liberty of kissing me, and in defending myself I gave him a fatal blow.”
He helped her in and took her home, afterward returning the sleigh to the stables in a way that diverted all suspicion.
CHAPTER XXIII.
A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE.
Two weeks rolled around very quickly and brought Cora’s wedding day again.
It would be somewhat different from the one that had been so tragically interrupted the month before.
This would be a home wedding at Mrs. van Dorn’s, where Cora was still staying.