"I think you would. I have not much money now, but I will have some—a great deal some day."
"By blackmailing Bernard," said Lucy, indignantly.
Julius picked up the ring and slipped it into his waistcoat pocket calmly. "We don't know that Bernard is alive. But the fact of Conniston leaving the army and from Durham's attitude I shrewdly suspect he is, and in hiding. I shall find out where he is, and then it depends upon him whether he is hanged or prefers to live abroad on a portion of his money."
"The lesser portion. I know the price of your silence," said Lucy, vehemently. "You will want the Hall and a large income."
"All I can get," rejoined Beryl, quietly. "And you have refused to share my fortune with me."
"Yes. I will have nothing to do with you. And remember that if I catch you plotting I will tell Mr. Durham."
"You can tell him the whole of this conversation," snarled Beryl. "I am not afraid of Durham. If Bernard is alive, he'll have to pay up or be hanged."
"He is innocent."
Julius shrugged his shoulders and walked to the door. There he paused to utter a final insulting speech. "I don't know whether you intend to marry Bernard or Lord Conniston," he said, "but I wish, which ever it is, joy of a spitfire."
"And an honest woman," said Miss Randolph, wrathfully, for the reference to Conniston touched her nearly; "but you go too fast. You can't yet prove that Bernard lives."