"I'll expose you as surely as my name is Nessa Caldicott."
"You know what the result would be to me?"
"I neither know nor care."
"Then I'll tell you. I should certainly be imprisoned and most probably shot."
She wavered somewhat at that. "It is easy for you to avoid it by doing what I say—leave the house."
"That's out of the question."
"Do you expect me to allow you to go on imposing on the girl who has been my friend at a time when I was absolutely helpless? Wouldn't you be ashamed of me if I were to consent to such treachery? Can't you see what a vile degradation it would be, and that I should hate myself as well as you if I consented?"
"No. Yes. Yes. I wish you'd ask one question at a time."
"Do you expect me to smile at such insufferable flippancy as that?"
"No. But it wasn't flippancy at all. I was answering your questions in order. You appear to think that I like being compelled to deceive Miss von Rebling."