"Let us go in here," he said, and drew her into a small sitting-room.
"What does that woman mean?" he asked.
Mrs. Davis had broken down.
"We can't keep on pretending any longer, Mr. Sinclair. Yes; it is true, what she says. Poor Cleo did lead him on, thoughtlessly—you know the rest."
A look of dogged sternness began to settle on Sinclair's face.
"Then she was the real cause of——"
"No! no! don't say that. Arthur, she never intended doing any harm. Cleo would not willingly harm anything or any one. She really liked him. Tom will tell you. It was the reason why she never had the heart to tell him—of—of her engagement to you."
For a long time the two sat in moody silence. Then Sinclair said, almost bitterly: "And it was for her that Numè suffered."
"Why, Numè—is—what do you mean?" the other asked, showing signs of hysteria.