Mona went out, and forced herself to shut the door after her without
making the slightest sound, although every nerve in her body was tingling
with indignation and resentment, to which she longed to give some outward
expression.

But for one thing, she would have faced the coarse, rude woman, and
proclaimed that she was already the promised wife of Raymond Palmer, and
had a perfect right to receive his attentions whenever and wherever she
chose.

That secret of the desertion of her mother haunted her, however, and she
was bound to curb herself and bear everything for three months longer,
while she would diligently apply herself to the task before her.

She retired immediately, but she could not go to sleep until she had
relieved her overcharged heart of its bitterness and passion in a burst
of weeping.

The next morning early Ray and his father were on their way to New York,
and ten o'clock found them seated in the private court-room, where Mrs.
Vanderheck was to answer the charges against her.

Money will accomplish a great deal, and in this case it had secured the
privilege of a private examination, before a police justice, who would
decide whether the suspected culprit should be held for the grand jury.

Immediately upon the arrival of the Palmers, Detective Rider came to
them, accompanied by a gentleman whom he introduced as Justin Cutler,
Esq., of Chicago.