"Why would she go with a man she didn't know very well? Where would she be going with him?" The flame in her cheeks, the stab of her eyes, dared him to think lightly of her sister. It was in her temperament to face all slights with high spirit.
His smile reassured. "Mebbe she didn't know where she was goin'. That was his business. Let's work this out from the beginnin'."
Kirby passed Rose the crackers. She rejected them with a little gesture of impatience.
"I don't want to eat. I'm not hungry."
Lane's kind eyes met hers steadily. "But you must eat. You'll be of no help if you don't keep up your strength."
Rather than fight it out, she gave up.
"We know right off the reel Esther didn't plan this," he continued. "Before we knew the man was in it you felt it wasn't like her to run away alone, Rose. Didn't you?"
"Yes."
"She hadn't drawn any money from her account, So she wasn't makin' any plans to go. The man worked it out an' then persuaded Esther. It's no surprise to me to find a Mr. Man in this thing. I'd begun to guess it before you told me. The question is, what man."
The girl's eyes jumped to his. She began to see what he was working toward. Cole, entirely in the dark, stirred uneasily. His mind was still busy with a possible love tangle.