"It was absolutely innocent on my part——"
"Oh, hell!" he said, disgustedly. "It's always the man's fault! When you pull a cat's tail and the animal scratches, it's the cat's fault. All right, then; granted! But the fact remains that if you hadn't looked sideways at me it never would have entered my head to make any advances to you." Which was a lie. All men made advances to Elena.
"Leave it so," she said, with the angry flush deepening in her cheeks.
"Sure, I'll leave it; but I'm not going to leave you. Not yet, Elena. You owe me something for what you've done to me."
"Oh! Is that the excuse?" she nodded scornfully; but her heart was palpitating with fear, and her lips had become dry again.
He surveyed her insolently under his heavy eyelids.
"Come," he said, "what are you going to do about it? You are the fortunate one; you have everything—I nothing. And, plainly, I'm sick of it. What are you going to do?"
"Suppose," she said, steadily, "that I tell my husband what you are doing? Had you considered that possibility?"
"Tell him if you like."
She shrugged.