“I have come to repeat that offer.”
“Mr. Cleigh, I have nothing to say so long as the key is on the wrong side of the door.”
Cleigh heard a chuckle from Cabin Two.
“Very well,” he said. “Remember, I offered you liberty conditionally. If you suffer inconveniences after to-night you will have only yourself to thank.” 98
“Have you calculated that some day you will have to let me go?”
“Yes, I have calculated on that.”
“And that I shall go to the nearest authorities and report this action?”
“If you will think a moment,” said Cleigh, his tone monotonously level, “you will dismiss that plan for two reasons: First, that no one will believe you; second, that no one will want to believe you. That’s as near as I care to put it. Your imagination will grasp it.”
“Instantly!” cried the girl, hotly. “I knew you to be cold and hard, but I did not believe you were a scoundrel—having known your son!”
“I have no son.”