Page:A Girl of the Limberlost.djvu/439

Rh "Stop!" commanded Edith Carr. "I told you that it was you I came to see." "I remember," said Elnora. "Mr. Ammon is my betrothed," continued Edith Carr. "I expect to take him back to Chicago with me." "You expect considerable," murmured Elnora. "I will raise no objection to your taking him, if you can—but, I tell you frankly, I don't think it possible." "You are so sure of yourself as that," scoffed Edith Carr. "One hour in my presence will bring back the old spell, full force. We belong to each other. I will not give him up." "Then it is untrue that you twice rejected his ring, repeatedly insulted him, and publicly renounced him?" "That was through you!" cried Edith Carr. "Phil and I never had been so near and so happy as we were on that night. It was your clinging to him for things that caused him to desert me among his guests, while he tried to make me await your pleasure. I realize the spell of this place, for a summer season. I understand what you and your mother have done to inveigle him. I know that your hold on him is quite real. I can see just how you have worked to ensnare him!" "Men would call that lying," said Elnora calmly. "The second time I met Philip Ammon he told me of his engagement to you, and I respected it. I did by you as I would want you to do by me. He was here parts of each day, almost daily last summer. The Almighty is my witness that never once, by word or look, did I ever