Over his dark forehead, cheek, and neck the red blood rioted at her words, and his dark eyes flashed ominously.
"So be it," he said at length. "Enemies we are, then. I could have served you greatly. Perhaps it would have been better for you to have been more politic; but no matter. Benedict Arnold forces his presence upon no one. This one thing, however, I ask of you: Tell me, I pray, where John Drayton is. But answer that and I will leave you in peace."
[Illustration: "BENEDICT ARNOLD FORCES HIS PRESENCE UPON NO ONE"]
"Thee means to tempt him," breathed Peggy, looking at him with startled glance. "Thee has no right to know that. He was broken-hearted over thy defection from thy country. He shed tears of sorrow. He and Daniel Morgan also. He would not wish to hear from thee. Molest him not, I beg of thee."
"Ah! that touched you," he cried. "If you are so sure of his loyalty why ask me not to molest him? Are you afraid that he will come to me for the love he bears me?"
"No," responded the girl indignantly, stung to the quick by his sneering manner. "John is fighting with the army, as he should be. Thee could not persuade him to leave his duty, sir. I trust him as I do myself."
"How now!" he cried. "Wilt lay a wager with me that another two months will not find John Drayton fighting by my side? Wilt lay a wager on't, my little maid?"
"No; I will not," she said, her eyes dilated with scorn at the proposition. "Neither will I tell thee where he is so that thou canst vilely try to woo him from his allegiance. John is loyal to his country. He hath been severely tried, and not yet found wanting. I should be less than friend to consent that thou shouldst make an attempt upon his honor."
"You have told me where he is, Mistress Peggy, without knowing it," and he laughed maliciously. "Daniel Morgan hath been, until of late, with General Greene's army in the Carolinas. If Drayton and Morgan were together it follows as a matter of course that Drayton is also with Greene."
"Oh!" ejaculated Peggy in dismay. Then her native wit came to her aid. "But that was last fall," she objected. "It doth not follow that even if he were there then, he is now. At that time thou wert with the enemy in New York; yet now thou art in Virginia. Why should he remain stationary any more than thou shouldst?"