"Sh! Don't mention the name aloud!"
"But he did unearth it, beyond all possible chance of mistake. Your father, Miss Cable, is sitting at that table. Don't look up just yet. He is staring at you. He doesn't know you, but he does know you are a pretty woman. The gentleman with the grey hair, Graydon. See? That man is her father."
Graydon half started up in his chair, his lips apart, his eyes riveted on the man designated. Every drop of blood seemed to have frozen in his veins.
"Good God, Elias!" he whispered. "Why, that is--" The name stuck in his throat.
"The son of the man who signed the banknote. He is Jane's father. There's blue blood in him--there has been since King Henry's day--but he is a villain for all that. Now, Miss Cable, I've done my duty. I've told you the absolute truth. You could not have expected more--you could not have asked a greater climax. The name of Vanderbilt or Astor is no better known than that man's name, and no ancestry is better than that of your mother. I will now give to you one of the articles of proof that connects you with their history." He handed to her a small package. "It is the letter written to James Bansemer by your paternal grandfather, agreeing to an appointment to discuss a question of grave moment. I found the letter that same day, and I've kept it all these years. It bears your grandfather's signature. That is all. I heard part of that interview, and I stake my soul that what I've told you is true."
Jane sat looking at him as if paralysed. Her mind was quite incapable of grasping the full import of his words--the words she had craved for so many months, and yet dreaded.
"I knew he was coming here to-night. He gives a theatre party. To-morrow he goes abroad. That is all."
"He's living in Paris," muttered Graydon mechanically. Jane spoke for the first time, as in a daze.
"I--I have seen him many times in Paris. My father? Oh, oh, it can't be true."
"Jane, let me take you away from here--" began Graydon, observing her pallor.
"No. Let me stay. It can't matter, Graydon. I want to look at him again and again," she said, shrinking back as if the whole world were staring at her. By the most prodigious effort she regained control of her fleeing composure. It was a trying moment.
"He's worth millions," said Droom. "It will be worth while for YOU to--"
"No!" she exclaimed passionately. "Do you think I will present myself to him after he has cast me off! No! a thousand times, no!"