"Believe me, Schuyler Cluett, wicked as it was, I rejoiced that I was free, for I believed that I was.
"And now you come again, when I felt that my life was not all shadow, and you demand that I rob my husband to help you."
"I am your husband, Ruby, and I need help, and will have it."
"Not from me, sir."
"Yes, from you."
"I say no!—for I will tell all, and defy you."
"I will first see him, tell him who I am, and he will pay me to keep quiet, for the man loves you.
"For the sake of yourself, and of your children, you had best decide to give me the money, I ask."
She was silent, and lost in deep thought for full a minute, while he watched her face narrowly.
At last she said: