"I can't do that!" she cried, her voice sounding hollow in the stillness of the night.
"We can't starve, and there is no other prospect—none!"
"Is that the only reason?"
She turned away wearily to avoid his penetrating gaze.
"No," she answered huskily, "perhaps it is not, but even if it were, I should still say the same. Oh, dad, what is it? There can be nothing so bad as this torturing suspense! Surely you can trust me?"
"Leonie," he said, in a choking voice, "the secret I know concerns Evelyn Chandler, not yourself. You must believe me, for I speak the truth!"
"Will you pledge me your honor to that, dad?"
He had never told a deliberate lie in his life before, and the effort cost him a greater struggle than almost any one would believe, but he controlled his countenance, and answered slowly:
"I do!"
She allowed her hand to fall from his shoulder, where it had rested, and sighed wearily. He had not deceived her!