Meantime, alone in her room Penelope was trying to decide upon some course of action. Her head ached with the effort to see some solution. She had no doubt that Larry Hughes had meant what he said when he declared his intention to marry her. The very audacity by which he had trapped her showed that there was no length to which he was not prepared to go. She was afraid, but she told herself that she must not let her faculties become paralysed. He could not force her to marry him. Such things were not done these days. At all costs she must try to get some word to London. The construction that would be put upon her absence was appallingly plain to her. But how? Her baffled mind beat wildly about the problem.

Gradually she became more collected. If an opportunity was to come for a way out she must look for it. She wondered if it would be possible to throw Larry off his guard. Could he be duped by an apparent acceptance of the situation on her part until such time as she found an avenue of escape? If he could be lulled into relaxing his precautions she might at the worst get some word to the local police or perhaps even to Labar.