“Oh, why did you do it?” she cried wildly. “Why did you do it? You laid a plot for me from the start. I was rich, and—and green, so you fussed over me, and acted like a friend, and invited me up here, for nothing but to bleed me—to get as much out of me as you could, and then leave me to face it out alone in a strange place. I was your own countrywoman, and I trusted you. Hadn’t you got a spark of loyalty left, that you could act so—mean?”
Mrs Moffatt put her hand to her throat. Her voice seemed paralysed; husky, disjointed, and feeble.
“No! It’s all gone; loyalty, faith, everything that matters. There’s nothing left but this! You’d not believe me if I said I was fond of you, Cornelia, but it’s the solid truth, though I robbed you all the same. I plotted to rob you, as you say! You had plenty of money, and we were cleaned out. I meant to get away with that necklace, and sell the stones on the Continent. There are people there who will buy without asking questions. I’ve got to know them pretty well during the last few years. ... Cornelia, what are you going to do? Is Mr Marchant sending to arrest me here?”
“He doesn’t know that anything is wrong. I managed to keep quiet, and let him believe I knew all about it. To the last I kept hoping that there was some way out. Captain Guest wanted to bring an officer along, but I wouldn’t do it.”
“That was like you! You wanted I should have a chance, but it’s all true; every one thing! There’s more true than you know of—other bills to come in, a big sum run up here. You can give back the necklace, but even so, it is going to be heavy enough. ... Cornelia, what are you going to do? I’m a bad woman—are you going to send me to prison, to have a chance of growing worse, among other bad women like myself?”
Cornelia threw out her arms with a sudden, reckless gesture.
“No!” she cried strongly, “I’m not! I’m going to let you go; I’m going to help you to go. Captain Guest’s a pretty hard man; I guess you’d better not see him again. Keep those notes—you’ll need some money to help along, and march out of the hotel right now, and lose yourself as fast as ever you can. You can have ten minutes to do it, while I wait here, and as much longer as I can keep him quiet; but you’ve got to be slippy. ... You shall have your chance!”
Mrs Moffatt gasped for breath, her face twitched convulsively, and she tottered as she stood.
“You mean that? Oh, God bless you, Cornelia Briskett! If there are any blessings going, there’s no one on earth deserves them more than you. You’ve saved me this time. Whatever happens in the future, you’ve given me a chance.”
“That’s so, but the question is, are you going to take it? See here! let’s strike a bargain over this before you go! You are a clever woman, or you wouldn’t have escaped so long, but the game is played out. It isn’t safe to go on, when any moment you may be recognised by people you have fooled before. You’re bound to make a fresh start—why shouldn’t you try being straight for a change? You’d find it would pay better in the end. You’ve got to think, when you leave this to-day, that a girl’s whim is all there is between you and a prison cell. That ought to be a pretty bracing remembrance, I should say. ... Start away with the money you have in hand, and see if you ken’t make some more for yourself. There’s another thing! You can write to me in a year from now, and tell me where you are, and what you have been about. I’ll ferret into every single thing, and if it’s straight, I’ll help you again; I’ll go on helping you! You need never say after this that you cheat because you’re obliged. Live straight, and work hard, and I’ll see to it that you don’t want. You’ve got your chance! ... I guess you’d better scoot!”