“That is my opinion,” said Ralph.
“Well, do you feel disposed—I’m not going to beat about the bush—to cast in your lot with us?”
“On the same terms as your friends?”
“No. On same terms as myself.”
The offer was bona fide; Ralph felt that it was; he was flattered by the tribute. Perhaps he would have accepted it, if it had not been for Josephine. But any alliance between her and Beaumagnan was out of the question.
“Thank you,” he said gravely. “But for reasons into which I cannot enter, I must refuse.”
“You are an enemy then?”
“No, monsieur, a competitor.”
“No: an enemy,” Beaumagnan insisted. “And as such liable——”
“Liable to be treated as was the Countess of Cagliostro,” Ralph interjected.