"But," he added sneeringly,
with a sinister smile, "I presume your gallantry was prompted by
affection--eh?"
"That is my own affair."
"A deaf and dumb woman is surely not a very cheerful companion!"
"And who caused her that affliction?" I cried hotly. "When she was at
Chichester she possessed speech and hearing as other girls. Indeed, she
was not afflicted when on board the _Lola_ in Leghorn harbor only a few
months ago. Perhaps you recollect the narrow escape the yacht had on the
Meloria sands?"
His eyes met mine, and I saw by his drawn face and narrow brows that my
words were causing him the utmost consternation. My object was to make
him believe that I knew more than I really did--to hold him in fear, in
fact.
"Perhaps the man whom some know as Hornby, or Woodroffe, could tell an
interesting story," I went on. "He will, no doubt, when he meets Elma
Heath, and finds the terrible affliction of which she has been the
victim."
His thin, bony countenance was bloodless, his mouth twitched and his
gray brows contracted quickly.
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