"Not the way the story was told me. But let that pass. Does she know that Macdonald beat her father out of one of the best claims on Bonanza and was indirectly responsible for his death?"
"What's the use of talking nonsense, Gordon. You know you can't prove that," his friend told him sharply.
"I think I can—if it is necessary."
Diane looked across at him with an impudent little tilt of the chin. "I don't think I like you as well as I used to."
"Sorry, because I'd like you just as well, Diane, if you would stop trying to manage your cousin into a marriage that will spoil her life," he answered gravely.
"How dare you say that! How dare you, Gordon Elliot!" she flung back, furious at him. "I won't have you here talking that way to me. It's an insult."
The fearless, level eyes of her friend looked straight at her. "I say it because the happiness of Miss O'Neill is of very great importance to me."
"Do you mean—?" Wide-eyed, she looked her question straight at him.
"That's just what I mean, Diane."