“He had been drinking and—he took hold of me.”
There was a long pause. Druce gazed at the girl satirically. She quailed with sinking heart under that look. She began sobbing again.
“Don’t look at me like that, Martin,” she wailed. “Don’t—or I shall go mad. I left home to marry you.”
“Well, I married you, didn’t I?” Druce sneered.
Elsie attempted to control her voice.
“That woman you call your aunt laughed at me when I told her I was your wife. She said I was a country fool.”
“Damn her,” muttered Druce. “I’ll settle with her.”
The girl grasped Druce frantically.
“Tell me she lied,” she cried, “or I’ll go crazy. Tell me she lied.”
“Yes, she lied,” answered Druce glibly. “See here, kid, it’s about time you began helping to support the family.”