Violet looked like one who had received some terrible shock.
She lay back in her chair, gasping for utterance, her face the hue of death, her eyes glaring as though she beheld some hideous specter.
Judge Camden shook her roughly by the shoulder, exclaiming:
“What, in the name of all that’s evil, is the matter with you, girl? Here I show you the picture of a very good-looking young man, and you shriek out as if you had seen a Medusa! When I ask you a civil question, you won’t answer, but fall back in your chair and pretend to be fainting! Now what is the cause of all this? I demand an answer! Do you know Harold Castello? Have you ever seen him? And if you have, why did you abuse him in such awful terms?”
CHAPTER IX.
THAT FATAL SECRET.
He stood waiting for an answer, his hand clutching her shoulder with a violence of which he was not himself aware, until she cried out with the pain.
“Oh, you hurt me!”
He loosened his angry grasp and said, impatiently:
“Well, answer my question, then. What did you mean just now?”
“What have I said? What have I done?” she moaned, lifting up her heavy head and awfully blanched face.