And on what grounds do you refuse to believe my statement?”

“Because he made love to me all the time he was in Heyst! Because he
used to kiss me and tell me again and again that I was the only woman
who had ever touched his heart! Because he had arranged to follow the
Baroness’s party to Brussels, only to be near me, and he would have
done so, had _you_ not prevented him!”

Her great eyes were blazing with indignation and mortified vanity--her
slender hands were clenched--she looked as if she were about to spring
upon her rival and tear her to pieces--whilst Miss Leyton sat there,
calm and collected--and smiled at her ravings. “You are quite mistaken,” she said after a pause, “I have never
mentioned your name to Captain Pullen--I had no idea, until those
letters fell into my hands, that he had so far forgotten what
he owes to me, as to address you in any terms but those of mere
acquaintanceship. But now that I _do_ know, it must of course be put a
stop to at once and for ever! It was to tell you so, that I came here
this afternoon.”

“Put a stop to! Do you imagine that I am going to give up Captain
Pullen at your request? You are vastly mistaken!”

“But you must--you _shall_!” exclaimed Elinor, getting (for her) quite
excited. “He is engaged to marry me, and I will not allow him to keep
up any communication with you! My decision is final, and you will be
good enough to respect it!”

“Your decision is _final_!” cried Harriet in mocking tones. “Oh! indeed, is it? And what about Ralph’s decision? Does that count for
nothing? What if Ralph refuses to give me up?”

Elinor rose to her feet, trembling with indignation at the other’s
boldness. “You shall not call him ‘Ralph’,” she exclaimed. “How dare you speak of
a man who is nothing to you, in such familiar terms?”

“But _is_ he nothing to me?” retorted Harriet, “and am I nothing to
him? We must have that question answered first. Ralph told me to call
him by his name, and he calls me Hally. How can you prevent our doing
so? He loves me--he has told me so--and I shall write to him as often
as I choose--yes! and I will take him from you, if I choose, and keep
him into the bargain! What do you say to that?”

“I say that you are a bold, brazen girl, not fit for me to associate
with, and that I refuse to be contaminated by your presence any longer! Let me go!”

She made an effort to gain the door, as she spoke, but Harriet barred
her exit. “No, no, Miss Leyton,” she said, “you don’t come here to insult me, and
then leave before you have heard all I have to say to you! In the first
place your assurance to-day is the first I ever heard of your being
engaged to marry Captain Pullen. _He_ didn’t take the trouble to make
it public. He never mentioned you except to say what a cold, reserved,
unpleasant nature you had, and how impossible it would be for a man
with any human feeling to get on with you! That is what _he_ thought! And he said it too, when he had his arm round my waist, and his face
close to mine. And now he has come to England, I suppose he is afraid
to carry on with me any more, for fear that you should hear of it! But
I don’t mean to let him off so easily, I can tell you! He shall answer
those letters, which you _say_ he threw away in the grate, but which
you are just as likely to have pilfered from his desk, before he is
many days older!”

“You cannot _make_ him answer them,” said Elinor, proudly, “whatever
you may affirm!”

“Not on paper perhaps, but by word of mouth! I will take them back to
him at Aldershot, and see whether he can deny what I have told when he
is face to face with me!”

“Surely!--surely!--you would never proceed to so unmaidenly an
extremity,” exclaimed Elinor, losing sight for a moment of her
indignation in her horror at the idea. “You must not think of such a
thing! You would create a scandal in the Camp! You would be despised
for it ever after!”

“I can take care of myself!” replied Harriet, boldly, “you need not
fear for me! And if even you _do_ get your own way about this matter,
you will have the satisfaction all your married life of knowing that
your husband was a coward and a traitor to you, even during your
engagement, and that you will never be able to trust him further than
you can see him, to the end! If you can care for such a husband, take
him, for I’m sure I wouldn’t. But he shall answer to me for all that!”

“Oh! Miss Brandt, let me go, pray let me go!” said Elinor in a tone of
such unmistakeable pain, that the other involuntarily drew back, and
let her push her way past her to the door. As Miss Leyton disappeared, Harriet Brandt commenced to pace up and
down the length of the drawing-room. It was not the swaying walk of
disappointment and despair; it was determined and masterful, born of
anger and a longing for revenge. All the Creole in her, came to the
surface--like her cruel mother, she would have given over Ralph Pullen
to the vivisecting laboratory, if she could. Her dark eyes rolled in
her passion; her slight hands were clenched upon each other; and her
crimson lips quivered with the inability to express all she felt. Bobby, glancing in upon her from the French windows which opened on
the garden, crept to her side and tried to capture her clenched hands,
and to keep her restless body still. But she threw him off, almost
brutally. At that moment she _was_ brutal. “Leave me alone,” she exclaimed impatiently, “don’t touch me! Go away!”

“O! Hally,” the boy replied, sympathetically, “what is the matter? Has
anyone offended you? Let me know! Let me try to comfort you! Or tell me
what I shall do to help you.”

“_Do!_” cried the girl, contemptuously, “what could you do?--a baby
tied to your mother’s apron-string! Leave me to myself, I say! I
don’t want you, or anyone! I want to be alone! Boys are of no use! It
requires a _man_ to revenge a woman’s wrong!”

The lad, after one long look of bitter disappointment, walked quietly
away from the spot, and hid his grief in some sequestered part of the
garden. Hally despised him--she, who had kissed him and let him lay his
head upon her shoulder and tell her all his little troubles--said he
was of no use, when she stood in need of help and comfort! When, if she
only knew it, he was ready to stand up in her defence against twenty
men, if need be, and felt strong enough to defeat them all! But she had
called him a baby, tied to his mother’s apron-strings. The iron entered
into his very soul. Meanwhile, Elinor Leyton, having blindly found her way out of the Red
House, hailed a passing hansom, and gave the driver directions to take
her to a certain number in Harley Street, where Margaret Pullen was
staying with her godfather, Doctor Phillips. She knew no one else to
whom she could go in this great trouble, which made her feel as if her
life had suddenly been cut in two. Yet she made no outward moan. Most
young women having kept a bold front, as she had done, towards the
enemy, would have broken down, as soon as they found themselves alone.