"You have caused my wife's death, and nearly murdered her father. I will have you arrested for it," exclaimed Mr. Chesleigh.
"Do so, and I will prove that I only acted in self-defense," was the instant reply.
"I will charge you with the murder or abduction of Golden Leith, your own sister," pursued Mr. Chesleigh.
"And I will swear before any court in the land that she is the inmate of a nameless house in New York," was the taunting answer of the villain.
They gazed at each other a moment, then Bertram Chesleigh exclaimed, in wonder:
"What a black and unnatural heart you must have, John Glenalvan. How can you thus malign the fair fame of your own sister?"
"Do not call her my sister. I hated her, the blue-eyed, doll-faced creature. She stole the love of my parents from me. It was all lavished on her, there was none left for me. But I have had a most glorious revenge," he laughed, wickedly.
"Yes, you have had a most terrible revenge," said Bertram Chesleigh, with a shudder. "You have blighted her life and that of her child. Four lives—perhaps five—have been ruined by your sin. Is it not time that vengeance should cease?"
"No!" thundered John Glenalvan, harshly. "For sixteen years the taste of revenge has been sweet on my lips. It is sweet still."
"And you will not speak?" asked Bertram Chesleigh.