“But surely you know me well enough, Thelma, to know that I am acting only in your interest! Yelverton is a very good fellow, but happily he is in ignorance, and his devotion to his duty as your guardian makes it all the easier for us. Now, don’t be a little fool. Where can I get into communication with Stanley?” he asked.
“I refuse to tell you!” replied the girl. “I know a little more than you think, and I would rather trust Stanley than you—even though I have to make pretence of ignorance to Mr. Yelverton.”
“To fool him, you mean!” laughed the man superciliously.
“Well, and if I have to fool him, it is for my benefit, not yours,” she said defiantly.
“And suppose I told him all that I know?” said Ruthen. “I know that he is your admirer—that Stanley ought never to have left you in his charge, and—well it is patent to everybody that you are fonder of Rex Yelverton than of your newly-married husband.”
“How dare you say such a thing!” she cried in fierce anger.
“Because it is true, my dear young lady,” was the cool reply. “I did not come out here for nothing. Stanley has disappeared, and this afternoon you had a telegram from him telling you, in secret, of his hiding-place. I want to know it!”
“And I refuse to tell you. He has cut himself adrift from you forever.”
The man laughed jeeringly.
“That would be more difficult than you imagine,” he said. “You are treading upon very dangerous ground now, Thelma. Tell me what I want to know, and I will help both Stanley and yourself. You must know he is in serious danger.”