"We can attend to that, Madam," said I grimly, and I smiled at her, although a sudden fear caught at my heart. I knew what damage she was in position to accomplish if she liked. My heart stood still. I felt the faint sweat again on my forehead.
"If I do not find her worthy of you, then she can not have you," went on Helena von Ritz.
"But Madam, you forget one thing. She is worthy of me, or of any other man!"
"I shall be judge of that. If she is what you think, you shall have her—and Oregon!"
"But as to myself, Madam? The bargain?"
"I arrive, Monsieur! If she fails you, then I ask only time. I have said to you I am a woman!"
"Madam," I said to her once more, "who are you and what are you?"
In answer, she looked me once more straight in the face. "Some day, back there, after I have made my journey, I shall tell you."
"Tell me now."
"I shall tell you nothing. I am not a little girl. There is a bargain which I offer, and the only one I shall offer. It is a gamble. I have gambled all my life. If you will not accord me so remote a chance as this, why, then, I shall take it in any case."