"What do you mean by that?"
"Oh, nothing. She would be a good match for him, that's all. There was a rumour that she had visited his lodgings late at night."
"Which rumour you started?"
"I thought it might be useful some day. As for the other woman, she's a mill girl. A girl who could be made very useful, I should think."
"Yes, how?"
"She's undoubtedly very much in love with him—after her own fashion. She possesses a kind of gipsy beauty, has boundless ambitions, is of a jealous disposition, and would stop at nothing to gain her desires."
"And is Faversham friendly with her?"
"Just friendly enough for one to start a scandal in case of necessity. And the girl, as you may say, not being overburdened with conscientious scruples, could be made very useful."
Romanoff reflected for some time, then he turned to Slyme again.
"Slyme," he said, "I don't think you need go any further in that direction. Faversham is scarcely the man to deal with in the way you suggest. Still you can keep them in mind. One never knows what may happen."