"But you cannot prove it," she cautioned. "Picture public condemnation and horror when they know!"
"Go and tell them," Rex fiercely returned, accepting with his accustomed thrill the combat which could not be averted.
"Ah!" she exclaimed. "Then with such permission I shall tell your wife first."
Britton winced visibly, and his face was bereft of its ruddy color. He caught the woman's wrists with the motion of crushing a venomous thing.
"Good God, you vampire!" he cried.
She had used some weapon known only to themselves, and, judging by its effect on the two standing thus, the weapon was one of incalculable cruelty.
CHAPTER XIX.
The conservatory door flew open with a rattle of shattered glass, admitting Lady Rossland and Mercia fleeing from the gardens amid the spattering raindrops.
"Oh!" they exclaimed simultaneously, on catching sight of the tableau where the silken tent had stood. "Oh!" Mercia's voice was low and hurt. Lady Rossland's rose up, pitched higher in an outraged tone.
Britton dropped the wrists he had grasped and turned toward the two women, humiliation written on his grave face, but the pride of Mercia would not allow her to wait for a forthcoming apology.