"I shall tell him myself."
"Oh! Then, after all your fine words of renunciation, you will see him again! Your reform is soon ended. Well, my girl, there is really no necessity for any such sacrifice on your part. No one here suspects anything regarding our little affair excepting you and me. You do what I desire with this Winston, and I 'm mum. What do you say?"
She sank back into a chair, utterly unable to stand longer, hiding her face in her hands.
"What—what is it you wish?" she questioned wearily.
He leaned forward and placed his hand, almost in caress, upon her skirt, but she drew the cloth hastily away, a sudden sob shaking her voice.
"Oh, please, don't touch me! I cannot stand it—only tell me what it is you wish."
"I want you to exercise your influence over that fellow, and prevent his taking professional employment at the 'Little Yankee' mine."
"Why?" she lifted her head again, facing him with questioning eyes.
"Simply because his doing so will interfere seriously with some of my business plans—that's all."
"Then why don't you act the part of a man, and go to him yourself? Why, in this, do you prefer hiding behind the skirts of a woman?"