"Who was this young man?" Gerald Goddard here interposed, while he searched his companion's face curiously.
"Willard Livermore," calmly replied Mrs. Stewart, as she steadily met his glance, although the color in her cheeks deepened visibly.
"Ha! the man who accompanied you to Wyoming night before last?"
"Yes."
"I have heard that he has long wanted to marry you—that he is your lover," said Mr. Goddard, flashing a jealous look at her.
"He is my friend, stanch and true; a man whom I honor above all men," was the composed reply; but the woman's voice was vibrant with an earnestness which betrayed how much the words meant to her.
"Then why have you not married him?"
"Because I was already bound."
"But you have told me that you did not know you were legally bound until within the last two years."
Isabel Stewart lifted a grave glance to her companion's face.