CHAPTER XIII.
AS General and Mrs.Abercrombie reached the vestibule, and the door shut behind them, the latter, seeing, that her husband was going out into the storm, which was now at its height, drew back, asking at the same time if their carriage had been called.
The only answer made by General Abercrombie was a fiercely-uttered imprecation.

Seizing at the same time the arm she had dropped from his, he drew her out of the vestibule and down the snow-covered step with a sudden violence that threw her to the ground.

As he dragged her up he cursed her again in a cruel undertone, and then, grasping her arm, moved off in the very teeth of the blinding tempest, going so swiftly that she could not keep pace with him.

Before they had gone a dozen steps she fell again.
Struggling to her feet, helped up by the strong grasp of the madman whose hand was upon her arm, Mrs.Abercrombie tried to rally her bewildered thoughts.

She knew that her life was in danger, but she knew also that much, if not everything, depended on her own conduct.