"I gave him courage—I am guilty too," he objected.
"You don't know the man. He thinks everything must bow before him—thinks he can buy anyone if he but have a chance—thinks every woman has her price—and that I am openly for sale. He can't understand that what a woman may do once, she would burn at the stake rather than do again. He's a beast! Montague, a beast!"
"A human beast unfortunately—whom one can't kill with impunity," Pendleton reflected. "Moreover, I doubt if it would be wise to kill him."
"Good Heavens! No!" she cried.
"Neither do I know just how the matter ought to be handled. Of course, you will ignore him in the future——"
"I shall never see him!" she declared.
"But if he sees you—forces himself upon you——"
"He would not dare."
"He would dare! He is vile enough to dare anything—to do anything. He has no notion of decency nor of right when it crosses his purposes. He has neither conscience nor shame. He is what you styled him: a beast—a vicious beast, I should add."
"What would you do with a vicious beast of his kind who forces himself upon you?" she asked.