Mrs. Tristram began to take slow stitches again. “Have you quite given it up?”
“Oh yes.”
“Is it very bad, this secret?”
“Yes, very bad.”
“For myself,” said Mrs. Tristram, “I am sorry you have given it up. I should have liked immensely to see your paper. They have wronged me too, you know, as your sponsor and guarantee, and it would have served for my revenge as well. How did you come into possession of your secret?”
“It’s a long story. But honestly, at any rate.”
“And they knew you were master of it?”
“Oh, I told them.”
“Dear me, how interesting!” cried Mrs. Tristram. “And you humbled them at your feet?”
Newman was silent a moment. “No, not at all. They pretended not to care—not to be afraid. But I know they did care—they were afraid.”