“It began in Paris twelve years ago. Such affairs have a way of beginning in Paris, old man. It’s in the atmosphere. She—”
“Stop. I will ask questions. There’s no good going over the whole story.” Peter tried to speak calmly, and to keep his voice and face from showing what he felt. He paused a moment, and then said: “She threatens to expose you. Why?”
“Well, after three years I tired of it and tried to end it. Then she used it to blackmail me for ten years, till, in desperation, I came to America, to see if I couldn’t escape her.”
“And she followed you?”
“Yes. She was always tracking me in Europe, and making my life a hell on earth, and now she’s followed me here.”
“If it’s merely a question of money, I don’t see what you want of me.”
“She says she doesn’t want money now—but revenge. She’s perfectly furious over my coming off without telling her—always had an awful temper—and—well, you know an infuriated woman is capable of anything. The Spaniard was right who said it was easier to take care of a peck of fleas than one woman, eh, chum?”
“So she threatens to tell your wife?”
“No. She says she’s going to summon me into court.”
“On what grounds?”