take her again.

"Anne," he said suddenly, "where is your love for me? I will swear you
loved me once."

"I never loved you," she answered, her words clear-cut, cold as steel. "I
never loved you. Once, it is true, I fancied that you were such a man as
I could have loved. But that passed. I did not know you in those days. I
know you now."

"And hate me for what you know?" he said.

"No," she answered. "I do not even hate you."

"What then?" he gibed. "You are--sorry for me perhaps?"

"No!" Very distinct and steady came her reply. "I only despise you now."

"What?" he said.

"I despise you," she repeated slowly, "knowing what you might be, and
knowing--what you are."

The words passed out in silence--a silence so tense that it seemed as if
the world itself had stopped. Through it after many seconds came Nap's
voice, so softly that it scarcely seemed to break it.

"It is not always wise to despise an enemy, Lady Carfax--especially if
you chance to be in that enemy's power."

She did not deign to answer; but her gaze did not flinch from his, nor
did her pride waver.

He drew something abruptly from his pocket and held it up before her. "Do
you see this?"

She stirred then, ever so slightly, a movement wholly involuntary,
instantly checked. "Are you going to shoot me?" she asked.

"I thought that would make you speak," he remarked. "And you still
despise me?"

Her breathing had quickened, but her answer was instant; for the first
time it held a throb of anger. "I despise you for a coward. You are even
viler than I thought."

He returned the weapon to his pocket. "It is not for you," he said. "I am
more primitive than that. It is for the man who stands between us, for
the man who thought he could whip Nap Errol--and live. I have never gone
unarmed since."

He paused a moment, grimly regarding her. Then, "There is only one
thing I will take in exchange for that man's life," he said.
"Only--one--thing!"

But she stood like a statue, uttering no word.

A sudden gust of passion swept over him, lashing him to headlong fury.
"And that one thing I mean to have!" he told her violently. "No power in
heaven or hell shall keep you from me. I tell you"--his voice rose, and
in the darkness those two flames glowed more redly, such flames as had
surely never burned before in the face of a man--"whatever you may say,
you are mine, and in your heart you know it. Sooner or later--sooner or
later--I will make you own i