"I am obliged to you, but I am as modest as yourself, and cannot accept the distinction. Well, Basil, say that everything happened as I have described, what would you do at the end of the year, with its wonderful result of overflowing purses?" Basil was silent and Chaytor continued: "You said once that you intended to live and die in the colonies. Do you stick to that?"
"No."
"What would you do?"
"I should return to England."
Chaytor shivered. This good fortune, then, which he had bestowed upon Basil, was to be the means of his own destruction. Basil in England, nothing could prevent his treachery being discovered. He had led to his own ruin. With assumed unconcern he asked:
"For any specific purpose, Basil?"
"It has dawned upon me, Chaytor, that in my thoughts I may have done injustice to one whom I loved and who loved me."
"The little girl, Annette?"
"The little girl, Annette."
"But, speaking of love as you do, one would suppose that she was a woman. Whereas she was a mere child when you last saw her."