“You—told—her—to go!” Guest’s face was a study of outraged wrath. “After all she has done; after the deliberate way in which she has cheated and deceived you; after the lies she has told; after her thefts,—hundreds of pounds still to pay up! after intending to desert you in this hotel, you mean to tell me seriously that you sent her away!”
The tousled head nodded dumbly; two big tears trickled down the reddened cheeks.
“Are you aware that you have compounded a felony? If Mr Marchant heard what you had done, he could accuse you of being a partner in the crime. Do you know that you have broken the law of the country, and that I could give you in charge at this moment, if I wished to do so?”
“I guess that’s so.—Are you going to do it?”
“That’s ridiculous! You know it is, but—”
“Then you’re another!” cried Cornelia, laughing through her tears. “You’re as bad as I am, so you can’t preach! She’s gone anyway, and I’m—glad! We got the necklace, and for the rest, I’ll just have to pay up, and look pleasant. Poppar says you’ve got to pay for experience in this world. I’ll tell him I concluded I’d better learn it pretty thoroughly, once I’d started. He won’t mind.”
“Your father must be a wealthy man if he can afford to lose four or five hundred pounds without feeling annoyed!”
Cornelia looked at him quickly, and replied in a tone of studied indifference.
“Oh, he’s flush enough at the moment. Likely enough we shall be paupers next year. Don’t be angry with me, Captain Guest. I simply had to give her a chance! I can afford to pay up, and if I’d sent her to prison it would have killed the last little mite of self-respect. I trusted her instead, and I believe that’s going to help more than any punishment. It would me! She’s had a good old fright, and maybe this will be the turning-point in her life.”
Guest’s lips curled in eloquent disbelief. He paced slowly up and down the room, then stationed himself once more in front of the sofa.