"If Ida does not sign the cheque she does not get the will," said Frances imperiously. "You can save your breath, Colonel."
"You may hand over a false will?"
"If I did that I should not get the ten thousand pounds," retorted Frances. "Don't be a fool. I am acting straightforwardly enough."
"Here is the money," said Ida tearing out the signed cheque and passing it to her quondam friend.
"And here is the will," replied Miss Hest, offering a paper, which Ida took and gave to the Colonel.
Towton glanced rapidly at the document. It certainly seemed to be a genuine will signed by Martin Dimsdale and also by Venery and Smith. He felt sure that there was no trickery about the paper, since Miss Hest--now that Lady Corsoon knew the truth--would not be able to get the money unless the testament of Martin Dimsdale was above reproach. "It's all right," he remarked, slipping the precious paper into the breast pocket of his coat. "But you, Miss Hest, are little else than a blackmailer. You are the worthy sister of your confounded brother."
The woman laughed after a critical glance at the cheque and signed document to make sure that both were in order. "I am able to bear all your hard names since I have secured the money. But that Ida refused to obey me and kicked over the traces you would never have had the will."
"I thought that the money did not belong to me," protested Ida, sheltering herself under the wing of her lover, "and wanted to return it to Lady Corsoon."
Frances nodded with a sneer. "Oh, I know how tender your conscience is. You have whimpered enough about it. Only because of your silly attitude did I make this arrangement, which is the best I can do for myself. But I must say one thing, Ida, and you can take it as a compliment. Clever as I am, you with your soft over-scrupulous nature have been too many for me. Few people can say that. And now that all is over between us, you can leave my house, as I hate the sight of your insipid face."
Ida shrank back into the Colonel's arms, and he addressed Miss Hest in a voice rendered hoarse with indignation. "You are a thoroughly bad woman. I never did approve of you, and now that I see you, as Ida does, in your true colours, I tell you----"