“You say you’ll give me a week?” she said, at last, grasping at a hope of reprieve.
“What good’ll that do you? Better put yourself under my protection at once. Every day you lose is that much nearer discovery.”
“All right, I’ll dare it! They won’t—won’t condemn me, anyhow.”
“Ho, ho. Banking on your sex to save you! Well, honestly, I don’t really think they’d send a pretty girl like you to the chair, but a trial would convict you in the eyes of the world, even if twelve men were too soft-hearted to see you electrocuted. And there’d be imprisonment—”
“Plenty for the girl that is to be my wife. None for any other. And especially none for a girl who scorns me and throws me over for my own secretary. I’m a red-blooded man, I am, and you can’t play fast and loose with me and get away with it!”
“I don’t mean to play fast and loose with you, if by that you mean changing my mind. But, I do ask for a few days to think it over. That’s not unreasonable, is it?”
Miss Mystery’s little smile was cajoling, and Trask couldn’t resist it.
“All right,” he said, as he looked hungrily at her bewitching face, “take a coupla days, then. But, only on condition that you don’t let Lockwood make love to you. Promise me that for the forty-eight hours, you won’t see that man alone.”
“You’ll have to, whether you can or not.”
“And you’ll keep that promise, or you’ll be sorry! I haven’t much opinion of your promises, you’re not the sort to keep faith. But, remember I’m a power. Maurice Trask can do whatever he sets out to do. And if you forget that, you’re mighty apt to regret it.”
“I gave you a promise,” Anita said, looking at him coldly, “and I fully intend to keep it. It’s not such a very hard one to keep.”
Her lip curled, and though he guessed the tumult in her heart, there was no sign of it on her face.
Trask accompanied her to the postoffice, and then, bidding him a careless good afternoon, Anita went into a large drygoods shop and he made no attempt to follow her.
He would have been interested, however, had he noted her proceedings. For she went straight to a telephone booth, and called up the Waring house. Ito answered and when she asked to be connected with Mr. Lockwood, the butler gave the connection without question.