She flushed and pouted a little. “I don’t know that I’m so enormously extravagant. I’m fond of pretty things, and I have them within my means.”

“Always?” He leaned forward, and spoke the word very quietly. “You don’t⁠—ah⁠—run into debt?”

She swept angrily to her feet. “You are insulting,” she declared. “I can’t misunderstand you. You suggest that I am mixed up in this robbery.”

“Sit down!” he ordered, sternly. There was no mistaking the menace in his voice now. The girl ignored the command and remained with set face, her gaze meeting his in angry defiance. For a matter of seconds they remained thus, their wills clashing for supremacy. With deliberation he rose, and towering over her, pointed to her chair. “Sit down,” he repeated sternly, and as though under some dominating spell, she slowly obeyed.