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 She raised her eyes to him and began bravely enough:

"Robert, it is best that you do not see"

"What, you refuse? It is not necessary for my wife to keep anything from me."

"Even if it could only annoy you?"

"Yes, if it half killed me, I would insist upon knowing."

"I don't mean that you ought not, that I—Oh!"

"Come, Cherokee, don't get so confused, you can't make a success of deceiving me. I presume I know it anyway. Anna said you had received flowers last night from Frost—I guess that is the love letter that came with them."

Suddenly her gentle eyes looked startled; she was humiliated.

"I would not have believed that you would question the maid about the conduct of your wife."

He watched her for a moment in troubled silence, but did not speak.

"Robert, do you think this is a manly, honorable way to act?"

"It is—is what you deserve," he answered coldly.

"You are mistaken; while Anna Zerner was making her report, did she inform you that I returned Mr. Frost's flowers?"