I
said that I'd discovered a secret which, if revealed, would ruin your
mother and injure--you! So it would--more than ever, now. So, you see,
in keeping it, I'm taking care, not only of her interests, but
of--yours!"
Nesta rose. She realized that there was no more to be said--or done. And
Pratt rose, too, and looked at her almost appealingly.
"I wish you'd try to see things as I've put them, Miss Mallathorpe," he
said. "I don't bear malice against your mother for that scheme she
contrived--I'm willing to put it clear out of my head. Why not accept
things as they are? I'll keep that secret for ever--no one shall ever
know about it. Why not be friends, now--why not shake hands?"
He held out his hand as he spoke. But Nesta drew back.
"No!" she said. "My opinion is just what it was when I came here."
Before Pratt could move she had turned swiftly to the door and let
herself out, and in another minute she was amongst the crowds in the
street below. For a few minutes she walked in the direction of Robson's
offices, but when she had nearly reached them, she turned, and went
deliberately to those of Eldrick & Pascoe.
CHAPTER XVI
A HEADQUARTERS CONFERENCE
By the time she had been admitted to Eldrick's private room, Nesta had
regained her composure; she had also had time to think, and her present
action was the result of at any rate a part of her thoughts.
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