Sprague's tones, rather than his words, angered Leicester. The thought of the woman he loved more than all on earth being associated with a wager maddened him.
"To whom shall I send my cheque, Leicester?" went on Sprague. "Purvis also wants to know. Having fulfilled our part of the business, you will, of course, also finish yours. It reflects no credit upon any of us."
"No," said Leicester, speaking very quietly. "If any cheque is sent, I will send it myself."
"You mean then that all we have heard is false, and that the young lady has refused you."
"What I mean does not affect you, providing I send the cheque," replied Leicester, still speaking quietly.
"Leicester has been converted at a drawing-room meeting, after all," said Sprague, with a sneer. "I hear he has adopted quite a different tone in his speeches. We shall see him addressing mothers' meetings yet."
Still Leicester kept himself under control, although Sprague tried him sorely.
"Come, Leicester," want on Sprague, "if you are converted, you ought to give up this unworthy business; if you are not, then you have no right to ruin a woman's life."
"I think I can mind my own business," said Leicester.
"But the question is, are you converted from the error of your ways? Have you turned moral reformer, temperance lecturer, and the rest of it?"