"Beware! Beware, Gerald! I have hot blood in my veins, as you very well know," was the menacing retort.
"I have long had a proof of that," he returned, with quiet irony.
"Oh!" she cried, putting up her hand as if to ward off a blow, "you are cruel to me." Then, with sudden passion, she added: "Perhaps, after all, that document is in your possession—or at least that you know something about it."
"I only wish your surmise were correct, Anna; for, in that case, I should have no cause to fear her," said Mr. Goddard, gravely.
"Ha! Even you do 'fear' her?" cried madam, eagerly. "In what way?"
"Can you not see? If she has gained possession of the paper, she has it in her power to do both of us irreparable harm," the gentleman explained.
Anna Goddard shivered.
"Yes, yes," she moaned, "she could make society ring with our names—she could ruin us, socially; but"—shooting a stealthy glance at her companion, who sat with bowed head and clouded brow—"I could better bear that than that she should assert a claim upon you—that she should use her power to—to separate us. She shall not, Gerald!" she went on, passionately; "there are other countries where you and I can go and be happy, utterly indifferent to what she may do here."
The man made no reply to these words—he was apparently absorbed in his own thoughts.
"Gerald! have you nothing to say to me?" madam sharply cried, after watching him for a full minute.