met
her! In the circumstances, why should she have done so?

Ah, yes--just so! She wouldn't like to have the affair talked about; she
wouldn't like to have young Geoff put on his guard, so that he might
purposely avoid meeting her, and she would be most anxious to get him
back into the house as quietly and as expeditiously as possible. No,
decidedly, you never can be certain. Women are queer fish at the best of
times, and mothers have odd methods of reasoning when beloved sons are
concerned. But stepmothers? Hum-m-m! Yes, yes! To be sure, there are
always exceptions. Still, he hadn't thought--he decidedly had not
thought----

Young Clavering was speaking again. Cleek let the "thought" trail off
and lose itself, and pricked up his ears to listen.

"I suppose it was her speaking of you that first put the idea into my
head," Geoff went on, "and impelled me to walk over to the place where
we had been so happy before your father returned from Argentina and
spoiled everything for us. That's why I went. That's how I came to meet
you there."

"You did not meet me there!" she flung back indignantly. "Really this is
past a jest."

"A jest? You think I'm likely to jest over it--a thing that threatens
the life of the girl I love? In the name of heaven, Kathie, put an end
to this nonsense. You know I did meet you there! You know how surprised
I was when I got to the place to see you stealing out of the gates. Why,
the very moment you saw me you spoke my name, and that I had no more
than just time to say to you, 'For God's sake, Kathie, how did you come
here?' when you plucked me by the sleeve and said, 'Come in, come in;
I'll show you something that will light the way back to the land of
happiness, dear!' And after all that to face me down like this--to
pretend that you were not there. It is simply ridiculous."

"I am glad you can give it so mild a name," said the girl coldly. "To me
it seems the cruellest and the wickedest falsehood a man could possibly
utter. Dear God! what has come over you, Geoff? Are you mad, or are you
something worse, to come here and make this abominable lying charge
against me--against _me_? And when you know in your heart that there is
not one word of truth in it!"

"Oh, for God's sake, don't treat me as if I were a fool, Katharine. Who
is there to impersonate you, and for what reason? I know what I know, I
know what I've seen, what I've heard, what I've been through! Then what
in heaven's name i