"Yes, Leslie," he said.
"Colonel Morehead didn't—couldn't understand what your letter meant, so I came to see."
"It means that I can't pardon your father, Leslie," he told her with great difficulty.
"Why not?"
"Because your father is guilty——"
"Eliot!" she cried, leaping back with flashing eyes.
"But I must speak the truth, Leslie," said the Governor, "and that's the truth."
There was a silence that lapsed into minutes. Beekman was the first to break it.
"Unfortunately for us all," he said, "I'm sworn to do my duty—I don't know that it makes much difference about my being sworn—I'd have to do it anyway."
"You defended him," she said with sudden spirit. "You believed him innocent then—you said so a thousand times."