“And so, when I am married to Katharine, and Garston is free of all social claims, if he alone knows her secret, it may be buried forever in her marriage with him. “To bring the proper pressure to bear, he must have the girl first. And he would not be too good to bribe the girl with a fancied inheritance. Once that the child is under his influence, Elaine’s proud heart must either bend or break. “For he will win his way to her side, even across the fires of Alynton’s hate or the social ruin of Elaine’s good name.” Vreeland already knew the iron will of the man who was driving ahead with recklessness in the chase. And so, armed with the deadly secret of the enormously powerful cabal, the stolen document, Vreeland now knew that if brought to bay, Elaine would perhaps be sacrificed by the secret syndicate, despised by the undeceived Alynton, and then, with the secret of her early life in Garston’s possession, be utterly at his mercy. “Yes, she is in the toils,” he muttered. “There is no escape for her.” It was at the wish of Senator James Garston, now lavishly liberal in his preparations for his ward’s wedding, that the bridal was postponed to the first days of June. “All is going on well, Harold,” said Garston. “We have worked into a thorough accord with all her representatives. “And you will not find love-making with Katharine Norreys an irksome task. I wish only to wait till I learn that Elaine Willoughby has landed at Brindisi. “Somewhere on the Continent she will surely meet this girl. I shall have instant reports from my detectives. For so far, we have found out Elaine’s route, but, the girl is still hidden. “I wish you to go away at once on your wedding tour, and then to keep Mrs. Willoughby in sight—within touch. I only want to meet the mother and daughter face to face—only once. I will have my innings then, and finish the whole matter in short order.” His face was merciless now. “Now, you will be no object of suspicion on your wedding tour; such a happy voyage always explains itself,” he sardonically smiled. “The moment that I am cabled for, I shall depart incognito. My work will be quickly done when I find this sly woman and her child together. The whole world is not wide enough to hide that child from me.” And Vreeland drifted daily under Garston’s strong control; he was floating with the tide, drunken with all his successes. The days drifted along in all the preoccupation of daily business and the growing bustle of the impending wedding. Harold Vreeland was most agreeably surprised in the later days of May by a cordial letter from Mrs. Willoughby, posted at Port Said. Her congratulations upon his impending marriage were coupled with her carte blanche as to leave of absence from the firm, and the significant direction to leave Bagley in charge at the Elmleaf.