Читать книгу Hard-Pan. A Story of Bonanza Fortunes онлайн

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He made no answer, and she went on:

“Of course she knew all about it. She would have been an idiot if she hadn’t. And she doesn’t sound at all like an idiot. It’s just the other way. She was clever—altogether too clever. I don’t like that kind of person at all. I wouldn’t trust her from here to the corner. She must have been one of those soft, clinging, gentle creatures who are always turning aside to hide their tears. Was she?”

“I dare say. You seem to know more about her than I do.”

“But it sounds very interesting,” said Letitia, coming closer to him. “I’d like to read it. What is the name of the book?”

“Oh, I don’t remember. It’s nonsense, anyway—some stuff not worth talking about.”

Letitia continued to look at him silently for a moment; then she said slowly:

“It’s not a book at all. It’s a real person. You’ve been trying to make a fool of me.”

He looked at her quickly, his eyes, behind the shield of his glasses, narrowed to mere lines. For a moment, as their cold gleam met hers, she shrank, for she thought he was angry, and, like other people, Letitia was afraid of John Gault’s anger. Then he smiled at her, and said: