"No, I don't want her."

"I do." Lilas's bad temper flared up promptly from the hot coals
of a spiteful drunken stubbornness. "She'll stay till you go, or
else I'll put you out too. I don't trust you." She laughed
disagreeably.

"Then have your way. It's you I want to talk with, anyhow, drunk
as you are. Now, Bob--will you say good night?" He waved the two
men from the room, and the outer door closed behind them.

Lorelei had little desire to remain as the witness to a
distressing scene, but she seized upon the delay, for even a
sordid lovers' quarrel was preferable to the caresses of a sodden
bridegroom. But daylight seemed a long way off--she feared Bob
would not fall asleep during this brief respite.

"Now come with me, if you please." Hammon turned in the direction
of the library, and Lilas followed, pausing to light a cigarette
with a studied indifference that added fuel to his rage. Lorelei
seated herself at the disordered dining-table and stared miserably
at the wall.

"Well?" said Hammon, when he and Lilas were alone. "Is this how
you live up to your promises?"

"How did you know I went out to-night?" she inquired in her turn.

"I had you watched. After what happened last night I was