"Yes, ma'am; I'll take my Bible oath on it."
"No one has seen my letters to you?"
"Not a soul, nor a body either."
"You have all the letters?"
"Every one,—filed in my safe."
"You could return them to me?"
"Yes, ma'am, I could," he replied, with a strong emphasis on the could.
He had not had much success until this young lady had fallen into his hands. He knew that she was rich, and he was prepared to make a very good thing of the affair.
"You shall be paid," she said, loftily, "but there are certain things I wish you to promise me."
In spite of the shortness of time, she fell into a brief reverie. Her active brain was running over the possibilities of the future. She wished to humiliate Derrice, to poison slightly for her the springs of happiness, and to survey from a distance the uneasy struggles of this victim who had so deeply angered her.