"Is there no possibility she has run away alone to escape her grandmother's cruelty?" he insisted.
Lizzie said she could not tell, she had never heard Liane mention any man's name, but she had been more confidential with her mother.
"Could you—would you—tell me her lover's name?" he pleaded; but Lizzie answered that it would not be right to betray her friend's confidence.
"He was a rich young man, and not likely to marry my poor friend," she added sorrowfully, and after that admission he could extract no more from Lizzie.
With a sad heart he returned to the Clarkes' with his ill news.
Mr. Clarke was terribly excited:
"I will not believe she has gone with any man! I should sooner believe that that old hag has made way with the girl! Give me the address, Devereaux, and I will go and wring the truth from her black heart, if you will stay and cheer my wife while I am gone!" he exclaimed, springing up in passionate excitement.