Page:Melville Davisson Post--The Man of Last Resort.djvu/132

108 “Madam,” he said, “you have neglected to tell me the most important matter.”

“Oh, no, sir,” responded the younger Mrs. Van Bartan, “I have told you everything.”

“By no means,” said Mason. “You have said that Mr. Van Bartan is not the man with whom you had hoped to spend your life. Who is that man?”

The young woman looked down at the floor and was silent.

“Well,” she said, “I don't know that I meant quite that. I was meaning, you know, that there were other considerations moving me to this alliance beyond mere affection. I did not say that I loved some one else, did I? Did I say I loved some one else?”

“You evade,” said Mason, bluntly. “It is the weakling's method of confession, and as well the fool's method.”

The blood came into the face of the younger Mrs. Van Bartan, and she looked up resolutely.

“You don't spare me at all,” she said, bitterly. “You pry out everything, even the very heart linings. Suppose I did love some one else, what has that to do with this matter?