"I am a gentleman, dealing with gentlemen," said he, with dignity.
She made a gesture of contempt. "But suppose Atwater should prove not to be a gentleman—what then?"
"He'd hesitate to play fast and loose with me," Trafford now confessed. "He owes our allied institutions too many millions."
"Oh," she said, relieved. Then—"And what precaution has he taken against your deserting him?"
"None, so far as I know, except that he would probably join in Armstrong's attack. But, my dear, you entirely misunderstand. Atwater and I have the same interests. We——"
"I know, I know," she interrupted impatiently. "What I'm trying to get at is how you can induce him to come to an agreement with Armstrong. Can you think of no way?"
"I had never contemplated this emergency," he replied apologetically. His conduct now seemed to him to have been headlong, imbecile.
"You must do something this very night," said his wife. "There might be a change of plan on one side or the other. You must see that your position, unprotected among these howling beasts, is perilous."
At that, Trafford fell to trembling so violently that, ashamed though he was to have any human being, even his wife, see the coward in him, he yet could not steady himself. "I can offer Armstrong peace and a voice in our company. If he accepts, I can stop Atwater. I can frankly show him that I am not prepared to withstand an attack and that it is surely coming. He will not refuse. He won't dare. Besides—" He stopped suddenly.
"Besides—what?"