She bustled off into the kitchen. Beth had barely finished eating when Bostwick again appeared.
The man was tanned from his trip in the desert. He seemed alert, excited, keen over prospects rapidly coming to a head.
"Well, well, Beth," he said as he came inside the dining-room, "I'm back, you see, but I've certainly had a time of it! The car broke down, and Glen had left Starlight when at last I arrived, and I hunted for him all through the mountains and only found him four days ago, and we've been going ever since. I couldn't write, but I did feel cut up, I assure you, about leaving you here alone for so long a time."
He advanced as if to kiss her, but Beth avoided his caress. She was calm and possessed. She meant to ascertain just how far the man was trying to deceive her.
"Won't you sit down, and tell me all about it," she said. "You saw Glen four days ago?" She resumed her place in her chair.
"Three or four days ago—I'm mixed in my dates," he said, as he also took a seat. "He's looking fine, and sent his love, of course."
That the man was lying, in every particular, she began to feel convinced.
"You left him well? He was feeling strong and well?"
"Never better," he assured her. "You can see what this wonderful sunlight does, even to me."
"Yes, I see. And you left Starlight yesterday?"