"What is it?" The general's voice was strained and unnatural.
"He regrets it, but he does not deem it proper for him to interfere with the decision of the court. He has had the most eminent legal advice in this case—"
A choking inarticulate cry from Elizabeth interrupted him.
"My God!" cried her father, as Elizabeth's groping hands clung to him. He felt the shudder that wrenched her slim body. "Be brave!" he whispered, slipping his arms about her.
"Oh, father—father—" she sobbed.
"We will go home," said the general.
He looked up from the bowed head that rested against his shoulder, expecting to find the secretary still standing by the door, but that dapper young man had stolen from the room.
"Yes, take me home," said Elizabeth.
He led her from the house and the door closed behind them on their last hope. Both shared in the bitter consciousness of this. They had been brought face to face with the inexorable demands of life, they had been foredoomed to failure from the very beginning.
"Father?" she gasped.