Go on! Tell me!" His voice was hard. Hard also was the grip of his
hands. He knew that in the moment he released her she would turn and flee
like a fleeing hare.
There was fear in the blue eyes that looked up to his, but they held a
glare of defiance as well. Her small white teeth showed clenched between
her laughing lips.
"Go on! Tell me!" he reiterated. "You shan't go--I swear--until you tell
me."
"Think I'm--think I'm afraid of you?" challenged Toby, with boyish
bravado.
"I think you'll answer me," he said, and abruptly his tone fell level,
dead level. He looked her straight in the eyes without anger, without
mercy. "And you'll answer me now, too. What other reason could Miss
Melrose have for making that suggestion if it was not intended for your
benefit? Now answer me!"
His face was pale, but he was master of himself. Perhaps he had learned
from Jake that fundamental lesson that those who would control others
must first control themselves. He still held her before him, but there
was no violence in his hold. Neither was there any tenderness. It was
rather of a judicial nature.
And oddly at that moment a sudden gleam of appreciation shot up in Toby's
eyes. She stood up very straight and faced him unflinching.
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