"I want to ask Huntington about his health."
The deviltry had come back into his voice; and just ahead of them she saw the fork of the road.
"There's a third reason too, I'm afraid," she answered bitterly.
"Noble? Manly? Kind? Generous?" he broke in.
"Do you really think it's worth your while to punish me?" she asked with passionate irony.
"Because I hope to be let alone hereafter."
"Do you think that is the way a man should speak to a woman?"
"It seems to be the only way to make a woman understand. And even then--"
She felt that he shrugged his shoulders in the darkness.
"Then I'm sorry for the women you have known!" she retorted.
"That should make it all the easier for you to avoid any more accidents in my part of the Park," he answered unperturbed. "It's your own fault if I'm rude. I haven't forced my attentions upon you. If you feel that you've been mistreated, there's another reason--that makes four, doesn't it?--for my going to Huntington's. We'll be there in five minutes. You can tell him."
She could find no answer to all this. Brutal as it was, she knew that she had deserved it. Her anger fell away, for she had found already that she could not be angry with him long; and now, even in her torment, she began to be sorry for him, wondering what he had passed through that had so hardened and embittered him.
But the team had turned into the branch road; and she must act at once. There remained but one thing for her to do: to leap out of the trap, and refuse to go farther with him. On the thought, she measured the distance to the ground, the speed of the trotting sorrels. Perhaps she moved a little. Or had he actually read her thoughts? For suddenly, but very quietly, he laid a hand on her shoulder.
"No!" he said. "You might really hurt yourself this time."
She sank back in dismay, but with a thrill of admiration. What was this man, who knew her thoughts before she herself knew them, who mastered her--and despised her? She trembled, and was glad of the night that concealed her flushed face from him. As for her purpose, she was at the end of her resources. No confession, no plea would avail to shake his determination. She could do no more; and judgment was upon her--soon.
"Hold the reins, please!" commanded Haig.