Lilas was surprised. "Why? He's rich. He wouldn't miss a few
thousand."

"You wouldn't allow Mr. Hammon to be robbed, would you?"

"Oh, wouldn't I? If he didn't care enough for me to protect me
from scandal I'd want to know it."

"Lilas, you puzzle me," confessed Lorelei, doubtfully. "You say
things that make me think you don't care for him at all; then
again you seem to be crazy about him. How DO you feel? How far
would you go with him?"

Lilas laughed airily. "Perhaps I'd go farther WITH him than FOR
him. He asked me to marry him if his wife gets a divorce; and I
agreed. Does that answer your question?"

"I--suppose it does."

"Now that he has come to the point, I'm not sorry things happened
just as they did. A woman must look out for herself--no man will
ever help her. It's worth some notoriety to become Mrs. Jarvis
Hammon."

Something in the speaker's words rang false; but just what that
something was, Lorelei could not decide.

"Then you'd like to see the story made public?" she queried.