certain
promises, which honor bound you to fulfil--and then flung your
renunciation of them in my face, before strangers who understood. It was
a very mean and low-down thing to do."

A faint, sneering smile passed over his face. Her voice hardened.

"I am not a woman to defy--and I am still less a woman to mock. You are
going to keep your promises."

"I'll see you in hell first!" he retorted brutally.

She laughed. "You will not see me in hell first," she said calmly. "You
may quite possibly see me in hell after--because if there is a hell we
shall certainly meet there. But in the meantime--you are going to redeem
your word."

He made a slow gesture round the black room.

"You come to me now ... within a few hours...."

"Why not?" she returned hardly.

"Almost before her body is cold...."

She shrugged her shoulders.

"Christine Manderson was an incident," she said indifferently. "A
disagreeable episode. She merely infatuated you, as she might have
infatuated any man. She has passed."

"Passed," he muttered. "Passed...."

"I do not profess to equal her in appearance," she admitted. "But I am
not repulsive. I am considered to be extremely good-looking, and I am
much more interesting to talk to than she was. Also, I am well-bred.
Most people would find the balance in my favor. But, even if you do not,
the difference can only be very small. You will have to make the best of
it."

"Or else?" he snarled.

"Or else, if you prefer it, I will exchange your promises for the
secrets of this house--with no undertaking to keep them."

He sat biting his nails in the suppression of his rage. She languidly
corrected the folds of her dress, leant back in a charming attitude,
and waited with unassailable self-possession. The silence was long.

"How much do you want?" he demanded, at last.

"I am not asking you for money," she replied coldly.

"I am offering it unasked," he retorted. "How much do you want?"

"If you had offered to buy back your promises a week ago," she said, "I
might have sold them to you. I do not know that I particularly looked
forward to their fulfilment. But you flaunted another woman in my face."

"Put it all in the bill," he said coarsely.

"Therefore I will give you nothing back. You shall have only your bond."

"Why waste your breath on heroics to me?" he sneered. "You would sell
your soul for money. You have often boasted it."

"I would sell my soul for money any day," she agreed