“If she is a child of hers, she is probably a child of shame. She now fears the exposure, and has gone abroad to hide the girl away forever. Trust to Justine’s experience! I know these women saints. They always have nibbled at le fruit defendu—hypocrites!”
Mr. Harold Vreeland fancied that he saw light at last. “I believe that I can observe Senator Garston’s game. He would use this hidden fact to force Elaine Willoughby into his arms. By Jove! she does fear him! Perhaps Justine is right.
“And so, when I am married to Katharine, and Garston is free of all social claims, if he alone knows her secret, it may be buried forever in her marriage with him.
“To bring the proper pressure to bear, he must have the girl first. And he would not be too good to bribe the girl with a fancied inheritance. Once that the child is under his influence, Elaine’s proud heart must either bend or break.
“For he will win his way to her side, even across the fires of Alynton’s hate or the social ruin of Elaine’s good name.” Vreeland already knew the iron will of the man who was driving ahead with recklessness in the chase.
And so, armed with the deadly secret of the enormously powerful cabal, the stolen document, Vreeland now knew that if brought to bay, Elaine would perhaps be sacrificed by the secret syndicate, despised by the undeceived Alynton, and then, with the secret of her early life in Garston’s possession, be utterly at his mercy. “Yes, she is in the toils,” he muttered. “There is no escape for her.”
It was at the wish of Senator James Garston, now lavishly liberal in his preparations for his ward’s wedding, that the bridal was postponed to the first days of June.
“All is going on well, Harold,” said Garston. “We have worked into a thorough accord with all her representatives.
“And you will not find love-making with Katharine Norreys an irksome task. I wish only to wait till I learn that Elaine Willoughby has landed at Brindisi.
“Somewhere on the Continent she will surely meet this girl. I shall have instant reports from my detectives. For so far, we have found out Elaine’s route, but, the girl is still hidden.