There were enough of them to separate the men. They dragged Harlan away
out of the room in spite of his struggles. The mere sight of the lawyer
seemed to infuriate him more.
The Duke hurried the girl out and away while the peacemakers were
struggling with the young combatants.
"Stop that blubbering," he commanded, roughly. "If you've got any grit
left in you, brace up. Don't let people here notice!"
He was trying to hide as much of the true reason for the affray as he
could. He wanted to get the girl out of sight.
"I didn't know--I did nothing--if it was about me I didn't--" He stopped
her brutally.
"About you, you little fool? Of course it wasn't about you! My grandson
is going to marry Luke Presson's daughter."
She stiffened in the hook of his arm. They were in the corridor and had
not come into the view of the people.
"Every one knows it," he hurried on. He saw an opportunity to get in a
cruel blow at the romance he suspected and hated. "They have been going
together for months. She'll be the right kind of a wife for him.
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