Despite the smile on her face this was a shot that went home, and it put Rutledge on the defensive.
"You could hardly expect me to say less, Elise, after your denial of your love for me."
"My love for you? Of all the presumption!"
Elise caught her breath at this rejoinder, but it only gave zest to the game and she tilted her chin mockingly at him.
Rutledge, with some deliberation, took from an inside coat pocket a letter, and handed it to her. She glanced at it in astonished surprise, and her face went hard.
"Where did you get this?" she cried.
"In the mail, yesterday afternoon. Elise, I didn't delay a moment in coming to you. It came—"
"So this is what brought you!"
"Yes. I—"
"And you thought I sent it?"—her voice was as hard as her eyes were cold.