"It would be much nearer the kingdom," she said, with a laugh. "I don't ask you to tell lies; I only ask you to hold your tongue."
"But it is much easier said than done. You know this young man, and he ain't no fool either; and he has a pretty little way of asking point-blank questions. And if I ain't mistaken he can draw an inference as slick as most folks."
"But lawyers never reveal secrets," she said, smiling at him with her eyes.
"Nothing more quickly awakens suspicion than silence," he said. "And if he once gets on the trail——"
"He cannot possibly find me among eighty millions of people scattered over this continent."
"But suppose he were to drop on you by accident?" and the old lawyer pretended to be looking at a picture on the other side of the room.
She tried her best to keep back the tell-tale blush, but it would come. "Oh, we should shake hands," she said, in a tone of indifference, "and pretend to be surprised, of course, and then we should talk about what had happened in St. Gaved since I left."
"He is a very handsome young man," the lawyer said absently.
"Yes, he is rather good-looking, isn't he?" and the colour grew deeper on her usually pale face.