“I do not, for a single instant. The charge is false, and without the slightest foundation,” she asserted. “You saw me speaking with him, you may have overheard our conversation, and you no doubt believe that he is my lover. But I tell you he is not.”
“His movements were mysterious,” I said dubiously. “I followed him.”
“You followed him!” she gasped, all colour leaving her face in an instant. “You actually followed him! Where did he go?”
She spoke as though she feared that I had discovered the truth as to his identity and calling.
“To a village some little distance away,” I replied ambiguously; “and I there discovered one or two things which increased my interest in him.”
“What did you discover? Tell me,” she urged, grasping my hand anxiously.
“What I discovered only led me still further to the belief that he held you within his power.”
“I have already admitted that,” she exclaimed. “I am perfectly frank in that respect.”
“And you will not tell me the reason? If you refuse to be open and straightforward with me, there surely can be no love between us. Confidence is the first step towards the union of man with woman.”
“I will tell you the reason,” she replied in a strange voice, almost as though she were speaking to herself. “It is because a secret exists between us.”