“Possibly; but if he did, it was not in any conversation he had with me.”

“Detroit is a large city and must possess hundreds of sweet young girls within its borders.  Could he contemplate without wonder the fact that he had been led to the door of the one above all others between whom and himself Fate had set such an insurmountable barrier?  He must have been struck deeply by the coincidence; he must have been, madam.”

Astonished at his manner, at the emphasis he placed upon this point which seemed to her so much less serious than many others, she regarded him doubtfully before saying: 

“I was if he was not.  From the very first I wondered.  But I got used to the fact during the five months of his courtship.  And I got used to another fact too; that my secret was safe so far as it ran the risk of being endangered by a meeting with yourself.  Mr. Ostrander made it very plain to us that we need never expect to see you in Detroit.”

“He did?  Did he offer any explanation for this lack of—­of sympathy between us?”

“Never.  It was a topic he forbore to enter into and I think he only said what he did, to prevent any expectations on our part of ever seeing you.”

“And your daughter?  Was he as close-mouthed in speaking of me to her as he was to you?”

“I have no doubt of it.  Reuther betrays no knowledge of you or of your habits, and has never expressed but one curiosity in your regard.  As you can imagine what that is, I will not mention it.”

“You are at liberty to.  I have listened to much and can well listen to a little more.”

“Judge, she is of a very affectionate nature and her appreciation of your son’s virtues is very great.  Though her conception of yourself is naturally a very vague one, it is only to be expected that she should wonder how you could live so long without a visit from Oliver.”

Expectant as he was of this reply, and resolved as he was, to hear it unmoved, he had miscalculated his strength or his power of concealment, for he turned aside immediately upon hearing it, and walked away from her towards the further extremity of the room.  Covertly she watched him; first through her veil, and then with it partly removed.  She did not understand his mood; and she hardly understood her own.  When she entered upon this interview, her mind had been so intent upon one purpose that it seemed to absorb all her faculties and reach every corner of her heart; yet here she was, after the exchange of many words between them, with her purpose uncommunicated and her heart unrelieved, staring at him not in the interest of her own griefs, but in commiseration of his.

Yet when he faced her once more every thought vanished from her mind save the one which had sustained her through the extraordinary measures she had taken to secure herself this opportunity of presenting her lost cause to the judgment of the only man from whom she could expect aid.