GAVINIA ON THE TRACK Corp, you remember, had said that he would go to the stake rather than break his promise; and he meant it, too, though what the stake was, and why such a pother about going to it, he did not know.

He was to learn now, however, for to the stake he had to go.

This was because Gavinia, when folding up his clothes, found in one of the pockets a glove wrapped in silk paper.
Tommy had forgotten it until too late, for when he asked Corp for the glove it was already in Gavinia's possession, and she had declined to return it without an explanation.

"You must tell her nothing," Tommy said sternly.

He was uneasy, but relieved to find that Corp did not know whose glove it was, nor even why gentlemen carry a lady's glove in their pocket.
At first Gavinia was mildly curious only, but her husband's refusal to answer any questions roused her dander.