“Do you intend to betray me, then?”
“I know not what to do. I am so supremely wretched that I wish I sank beneath the waves.”
“What folly is this? It was an accident—a mere accident. Of course I never intended to hurl him from the cliff. Do you think it’s likely? Listen—for my sake you must keep silent. It is known only to our two selves. He fell over by accident—walked too near the edge, and then you did your best to save him. Nothing can be plainer.”
“I’ll be no party to so infamous a crime. I will not tell an untruth. No, not to save your worthless life. You are a monster, a murderess, and I have done with you.”
“I am in your power to a certain extent, I admit. Still, at the same time, permit me to observe that you will do well by holding your tongue, for your own sake as well as mine,” she added, with something like a sneer. “Do you understand?”
“Just Heaven! do you dare to threaten?”
“I don’t threaten, my friend—I merely suggest, and my suggestion is a very natural and reasonable one, and when you have duly considered the matter I doubt not that you will be of my opinion.”
Tom Gatliffe was perfectly appalled, not only at the observations which had fallen from her, but at his own position.
If she chose to accuse him of the crime, what witness could he call to prove his innocence?
He could not deny that he had struck the murdered man—that they had a short but fierce struggle.