“You lie, Arden, and you know that you do, for I am your wife, and I will yet get that certificate to prove it.”
“You can never get what cannot be secured. That man was no preacher; he was under my pay, and I paid him for his work. That is all there is to it, and so, when I make known my story about you, as I face an attentive and appreciative audience, standing upon the gallows as I will, it will be my pleasure to state that Nina de Sutro has a right to her name, as my death will not even leave her my widow.
“Do you see now, my beautiful Nina, just how you will stand in the eyes of these honorable gentlemen, for I shall add that you knew the fact from the very first—see?”
That she did see was proven by the moan that escaped her lips as she sank in a heap at the feet of the man who had dealt her such a cruel blow.
There was nothing for the outlaw to lose, everything for him to gain.
The time was drawing near when he must die. His sister had promised to save him, yet there might be a miscarriage of her plot. In his despairing case it would not do to trust to one plan alone.
Nina de Sutro, disappointed at the discovery she had made regarding the colonel’s love for Ruth, had grown reckless, almost desperate, and was willing that all should be known, rather than save the outlaw from death.
When, however, he told her what he would tell to dishonor her, she feared that she was forever lost, and so sank in a swoon at his feet.
He stood gazing upon her with intense delight in his expression, the cause of which was revealed by his muttered words:
“That will fetch her to terms.”