"Thank you, Phil!" exclaimed Miss Chichester. "But you must do more than warn him; you must stop him. You're a lawyer. You can get out an injunction, or a writ of habeas corpus or something, and compel her to keep away from him."
"Why," responded Westgate, "I think it's a question of his keeping away from her. And Barry's own good sense, and sober judgment, and quick wit, will control him to that extent at least. Won't it, Barry?"
But Barry was still reluctant to renounce the charming widow offhand at the behest of her rival, or at the suggestion of the gentleman learned in the law.
"I won't jump before I'm ready," replied Barry. "I'll find out more about this thing first. I'll ask Mrs. Bradley about it."
"Barry! Can't you believe what I tell you? When I saw it with my own eyes?"
Miss Chichester was growing more appealingly impatient. But Barry still shook his head incredulously.
"I'll believe it when she tells me it's so," he replied. "You might have been deceived in some way. And maybe if it is so it wasn't her fault. I'll ask her."
Then Westgate again intervened.
"If you take my advice," he said, "you'll do nothing of the kind. If she can't make up a plausible excuse, she's not the woman I take her to be. Now, my suggestion would be Have you told anybody else about this, Jane?"
"Not a soul," replied Miss Chichester, promptly.
"Then don't. Don't say a word. Keep the whole thing under cover. Don't either of you mention it to any one, least of all to Mrs. Bradley. I'll put a detective on the case. If we find out that Lamar is actually making love to the widow, with her permission, we'll put the facts before Barry in such a convincing way that he'll have to accept them, and wind up his romance."
Westgate brought his fist down on the table with
