“Yes, yes,” muttered Rainey impatiently. “He said you were invited here to give advice to his niece, not to him.” For the first time his eyes met those of Winthrop boldly. The District Attorney recognized that the man had taken his fears by the throat, and had arrived at his decision.
“See here,” exclaimed Rainey, “could I give you some information?”
“I’m sure you could,” returned Winthrop briskly. “Give it to me now.”
But Rainey, glancing toward the door, shrank back. Winthrop, following the direction of his eyes, saw Vera. Impatiently he waved Rainey away.
“At the office, tomorrow morning,” he commanded. With a sigh of relief at the reprieve, Rainey slipped back into the bedroom.
Winthrop had persuaded himself that in seeking to speak with Vera, he was making only a natural choice between preventing the girl from perpetrating a fraud, or, later, for that fraud, holding her to account. But when she actually stood before him, he recognized how absurdly he had deceived himself. At the mere physical sight of her, there came to him a swift relief, a thrill of peace and deep content; and with delighted certainty he knew that what Vera might do or might not do concerned him not at all, that for him all that counted was the girl herself. With something of this showing in his face, he came eagerly toward her.
“Vera!” he exclaimed. In the word there was delight, wonder, tenderness; but if the girl recognized this she concealed her knowledge. Instead, her eyes looked into his frankly; her manner was that of open friendliness.
“Mabel tells me you want to talk to me,” she said evenly “but I don’t want you to. I have something I want to say to you. I could have written it, but this”—for an instant the girl paused with her lips pressed together; when she spoke, her voice carried the firmness and finality of one delivering a verdict—“but this,” she repeated, “is the last time you shall hear from me, or see me again.”
Winthrop gave an exclamation of impatience, of indignation.
“No,” returned the girl, “it is quite final. Maybe you will not want to see me, but—”