"Demetrius? Yes."
"You've see him, then?"
"To-day. He'll see the thing through."
"What's his price?"
Leah smiled blandly, as she thought of what Jim would say did she reply honestly to this question. But she did not intend to. It seemed to her that Jim was driving her towards the very path which Lionel, unknowingly, wished her to avoid. It was useless to fight against fate, so she decided, and like many another person, she laid the blame on those scapegoats, the stars. She was now completely dominated by the selfish influence of the great god Mammon, and the lesser sin of lying was swallowed up in the greater one of idolatry.
"He'll want a few thousands, of course," she said mendaciously; "but, as yet, we have not fixed any sum."
"Hum," muttered Jim, suspiciously. "I thought he'd want something more than money."
Leah rose indignantly, and proclaimed a virtue that her conscience assured her she might yet lose. "I am an honest woman, Jim," she said haughtily, "and, married or unmarried, I should never allow any man to make love to me."
"Seems to me you do."
"Only to pass away the time. I stop short when----"