trouble about trivial explanations. [Pg 75] [Pg 75] “I looked at it because Rigby & Root are my lawyers as well as your own—did you know that?” Clement was too honest, as well as too startled, to tell anything but the truth. “Yes, I did know it,” he said. Heloise’s breath caught in something like a sob. There was a sudden blaze of contempt and anger in her heart; she had trusted this man ... and liked him. “And you knew about me ... about the reason of my voyage?” “Miss Reys——” he began. “Did you?” she cried. “Did you?” “Yes, I knew, but——” “You knew,” she cried at him, and her face was white. “And you were acting in the interests of—of Mr. Hard?...” Clement stared at her. This sudden attack had left his wits woolly and bewildered. And, of course, he was, in a sense, acting in the interests of Mr. Hard. If he said he wasn’t he would be lying. And yet Mr. Hard wasn’t the whole of the thing ... but the whole of the thing.... How could he explain it to her in this unsympathetic mood, in the presence of her archenemy and his, Miss Méduse?... He couldn’t explain. He could only temporize. He cried, “Miss Reys ... there is an explanation behind it all....” He got no further. Heloise read his hesitation correctly. He was acting for Mr. Hard. He had,[Pg 76] under the guise of friendship, been conspiring against her.... [Pg 76] She turned about. Clutching the arm of the clever Miss Méduse Smythe she walked away, left him. VII
Prev.
Back
Top