"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 frankly—"but not my pride. I am too much of a sinner already to scruple over the disposal of my soul. But it would not profit me to gain the whole world, and lose my pride."
"Bosh!" he said contemptuously. "Pride pays no bills—and you owe too many to let it deprive you of the pleasure of getting rid of a few."
"That is as it may be," she returned. "I have told you the only exchange I will make."
He sprang up again. This time his anger was scornful.
"Fool!" he cried harshly. "Take your warning! Do you think my secrets—if I have any—are for you? Or that I, myself, am for you? Why do you try to force yourself on to dangerous ground? There are things in the world into which it is not good to pry."