Bellshaw was in a bad temper. Things were all awry, and even the thought of winning the Melbourne Cup with Barellan did not soothe him. It was a disagreeable surprise to Mrs. Prevost when she heard who her visitor was.
Bellshaw made no bones about the matter. He asked her what she meant by writing him such a letter after all he had done for her; he upbraided her in no measured terms, used harsh names, and behaved somewhat brutally. It was his way with women.
She resented his conduct and replied forcibly. He saw she was determined, and this angered him still more. There was a scene, they lost their tempers, and mutual recriminations were the result. Mrs. Prevost was expecting Glen Leigh for lunch and wished to get rid of Bellshaw before he arrived. She dreaded their meeting, not on his account, but for the effect it might have on Leigh, and her influence with him. Bellshaw, however, did not seem in any hurry to go. He was loth to give her up; in his way he liked her.
"The fact is," he said, "you've taken up with someone else. I warn you he shall know all about you."
"You are cad enough to do that?" she asked.
"You can call me names if you wish; I don't care, but I'll make it mighty unpleasant for you," he said.
There was a ring at the front door. Mrs. Prevost was at her wits' end how to act. It was no doubt Glen Leigh.
She left the room hurriedly, and opened the door herself. It was Glen Leigh. She took him into the front room, and said her maid had just gone out; she promised to return in a few minutes, and left him.
Glen thought this strange. She was agitated; something must have upset her. He wondered what it was.
Craig Bellshaw also wondered why she had gone out of the room. He heard her open the door, and someone come in. Who was it? The voice sounded like a man's.