She rose and shook her head.
“No,” she said in a low and firm voice; “I will not have it. The—bargain is made, and I will stand by it.”
“I can not consent to that,” he said, grimly.
“You must,” she said, simply. “If you were to do it—give it back to me—I should refuse it, the whole truth would come out, and I should go back to Three Star.”
He breathed hard.
“You have no mercy,” he said, brokenly. “You exact your revenge and force me into the very dust.”
“I don’t mean to do that,” she said in a low voice; “but the money must stop where it is.”
“For the present,” he said. “If you knew me you would realize how bitterly you make me suffer.”
“I, too, suffer!” she said, turning away her head. “Only hide the truth, and let people think that there is no trouble.”