Page:The Mystery of the Blue Train.pdf/38

22 "I might," said the millionaire. He waited a second reflectively, and then went on. "There are several things I might do, but there's only one that will be any real good. How much pluck have you got, Ruthie?"

She stared at him. He nodded back at her.

"I mean just what I say. Have you got the grit to admit to all the world that you’ve made a mistake. There's only one way out of this mess, Ruthie. Cut your losses and start afresh."

"You mean"

"Divorce."

"Divorce!"

Van Aldin smiled drily.

"You say that word, Ruth, as though you’d never heard it before. And yet your friends are doing it all round you every day."

"Oh! I know that. But"

She stopped, biting her lip. Her father nodded comprehendingly.

"I know, Ruth. You're like me, you can't bear to let go. But I've learnt, and you've got to learn, that there are times when it's the only way. I might find ways of whistling Derek back to you, but it would all come to the same in the end. He's no good, Ruth; he's rotten through and through. And mind you, I blame myself for ever letting you marry him. But you were kind of set on having him, and he seemed in earnest about turning over a new leaf—and well, I'd crossed you once, honey . . ."

He did not look at her as he said the last words. Had he done so, he might have seen the swift colour that came up in her face.