She had fooled me!
Chapter Twenty Three.
Places Matters in a New Light.
The words upon the second slip of paper were,—
“Ellice believes that Sybil still loves Wilfrid Hughes. This is incorrect. Tell him so. The girl is merely using Hughes for her own purposes. She loves Arthur Rumbold. I have just learnt the truth—something that will astonish you.”
Rumbold! Who was Arthur Rumbold? I had never heard mention of him. This was certainly a new feature of the affair. Sybil had a secret lover of whom I was in ignorance. She was no doubt still in communication with him, and through him had learnt of Eric’s whereabouts and other facts that had surprised me.
I read and re-read the letter, much puzzled. She was only using me for her own purposes—or in plain English she was fooling me!
I was angry with myself for not being more wary.