"What! Not see him once more? To say good-by?" she exclaimed. A broken sob half checked her utterance. "Surely you can't mean that, Mr. Jeffries." The banker shrugged his shoulders. "I don't want the newspapers filled with sensational articles about the heartrending farewell interview between Howard Jeffries, Jr., and his wife--with your picture on the front page." She was not listening to his sarcasm. "Not even to say good-by?" she sobbed. "No," replied Mr. Jeffries firmly. "Not even to say good-by." "But what will he say? What will he think?" she cried. "He will see it is for the best," answered the banker. "He himself will thank you for your action." There was a long silence, broken only by the sound of the girl's sobbing. Finally she said: "Very well, sir. I'll do as you say." She looked up. Her eyes were dry, the lines about her mouth set and determined. "Now," she said, "what are you going to do for him?" The banker made a gesture of impatience as if such considerations were not important. "I don't know yet," he said haughtily. "I shall think the matter over carefully." Annie was fast losing patience. She was willing to sacrifice herself and give up everything she held dear in life to save the man she loved, but the cold, deliberate, calculating attitude of this unnatural father exasperated her. "But I want to know," she said boldly. "I want to consider the matter carefully, too." "You?" sneered Mr. Jeffries. "Yes, sir," she retorted. "I'm paying dearly for it--with my--with all I have. I want to know just what you're going to give him for it." He was lost in reflection for a moment, then he said pompously: "I shall furnish the money for the employment of such legal talent as may be necessary. That's as far as I wish to go in the case. It must not be known--I cannot allow it to be known that I am helping him." "Must not be known?" cried Annie in astonishment. "You mean you won't stand by him? You'll only just pay for the lawyer?" The banker nodded: "That is all I can promise." She laughed hysterically. "Why," she exclaimed, "I--I could do that myself if I--I tried hard enough." "I can promise nothing more," replied Mr. Jeffries coldly. "But that is not enough," she protested. "I want you to come forward and publicly declare your belief in your son's innocence. I want you to put your arms around him and say to the world: 'My boy is innocent! I know it and I'm going to stand by him.' You won't do that?" Mr. Jeffries shook his head. "It is impossible." The wife's pent-up feelings now gave way. The utter indifference of this aristocratic father aroused her indignation to such a pitch that she became reckless of the consequences. They wanted her to desert him, just as they deserted him, but she wouldn't. She would show them the kind of woman she was.