“‘You have brought me here under false pretences,’ I cried.  ’You have taken cowardly advantage of me.  If you have a spark of decency in you, you should be ashamed of yourself.’

“‘Tut, tut,’ he said, ’don’t talk that kind of nonsense.  You know the world.  You are no spring chicken.’—­Yes, he did, Allan—­I remember that very phrase.  And it made me so furious—­you can’t imagine!  I tried to get away again, but the more I struggled, the more it seemed to enrage him.  I was positively terrified.  You know, I don’t believe there was another person on board that yacht except his servants.

“‘Mr. Waterman,’ I cried, ’I tell you to take your hands off me.  If you don’t, I will make a disturbance.  I will scream.’

“‘It won’t do you any good,’ he said savagely.

“’But what do you want me to do?” I protested.

“‘I want you to love me,’ he said.

“And then I began to struggle again.  I shouted once or twice,—­I am not sure,—­and then he clapped his hand over my mouth.  Then I began to fight for my life.  I really believe I would have scratched the old creature’s eyes out if he had not heard you out in the hall.  When you called my name, he dropped me and sprang back.  I never saw such furious hatred on a man’s countenance in my life.

“When I answered you, I tried to run to the door, but he stood in my way.

“‘I will follow you!’ he whispered.  ’Do you understand me?  I will never give you up!’

“And then you flung yourself against the door, and he turned and opened it and went out.”

* * *

Lucy had turned scarlet over the recalling of the scene, and she was breathing quickly in her agitation.  Montague sat staring in front of him, without a sound.

“Did you ever hear of anything like that in your life before?” she asked.

“Yes,” said he, gravely, “I am sorry to say that I have heard of it several times.  I have heard of things even worse.”

“But what am I to do?” she cried.  “Surely a man can’t behave like that with impunity.”

Montague said nothing.

“He is a monster!” cried Lucy.  “I ought to have him put in jail.”

Montague shook his head.  “You couldn’t do that,” he said.

“I couldn’t!” exclaimed the other.  “Why not?”

“You couldn’t prove it,” said Montague.

“It would be your word against his, and they would take his every time.  You can’t go and have Dan Waterman arrested as you could any ordinary man.  And think of the notoriety it would mean!”

“I would like to expose him,” protested Lucy.  “It would serve him right!”

“It would not do him the least harm in the world,” said Montague.  “I can speak quite positively there, for I have seen it tried.  You couldn’t get a newspaper in New York to publish that story.  All that you could do would be to have yourself blazoned as an adventuress.”

Lucy was staring, with clenched hands.  “Why, I might as well be living in Turkey,” she cried.