'You were to receive money!'
'Leave me a bit of veiling! No, you shall behold me the thing I am.
Listen . . . I was poor . . .'
'You might have applied to me.'
'For money! That I could not do:
'Better than betraying me, believe me.'
'I had no thought of betraying. I hope I could have died rather than consciously betray.'
'Money! My whole fortune was at your, disposal.'
'I was beset with debts, unable to write, and, last night when you left me, abject. It seemed to me that you disrespected me . . .'
'Last night!' Dacier cried with lashing emphasis.
'It is evident to me that I have the reptile in me, Percy. Or else I am subject to lose my reason. I went . . . I went like a bullet: I cannot describe it; I was mad. I need a strong arm, I want help. I am given to think that I do my best and can be independent; I break down. I went blindly—now I see it—for the chance of recovering my position, as the gambler casts; and he wins or loses. With me it is the soul that is lost. No exact sum was named; thousands were hinted.'