interview, and then he would disappear, leaving behind him a gloomy shadow—her mother’s face sad and sorrowful, her manner constrained, and the evidence of intense mental suffering. As he stood before the girl now, she mentally decided that he was destined to be the evil genius of her life. And she was right. “Well, Miss Violet Arleigh,” he began at last, breaking the silence which rested upon the room, “you have read your mother’s letter, I see. What do you think of its contents—the communication made therein?” [Pg 34] [Pg 34] Silence! The girl’s dark eyes blazed with wordless indignation. “What do I think, Mr. Gilbert Warrington?” she made answer, her voice trembling with scorn and contempt. “I think what I have always thought—that you are the greatest villain unhung!” He winced perceptibly, and a faint tinge of color suffused his sallow cheek for a moment, then receded, leaving his face pale and resolute as before. “Miss Arleigh is disposed to be complimentary,” he sneered, a baleful light kindling in his deep-set eyes. “You would do well to choose your words.” “What is your business here?” she demanded, abruptly, after a brief pause, during which she studied the face of the man before her, with utter scorn in her eyes. “What has brought you here so unexpectedly? And answer me this, Gilbert Warrington: how did you know the contents of the letter which I have just read?” He starts, and his lips close down upon a stifled imprecation. He has made a false move; let slip something which he should have guarded with his very life. His eyes seek the floor for a moment, then are once more uplifted. “It is no concern of yours how I became acquainted with the contents of that letter,” he said, slowly. “Let it suffice that I do know. And I ask you, Miss Violet Arleigh, what are you going to do?” [Pg 35] [Pg 35] She smoothed out the crumpled sheet of paper in her hand, and glanced over its contents once more. “My mother states that you have a claim upon her—you!”—the girl’s sweet voice rang out in clear, scornful tones—“and she directs me to carry out your instructions. Mr. Gilbert Warrington, I do
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