“I know,” he said. “I understand now. I am here to-night to pay the reckoning.”
“You can’t pay it.”
“No, not the whole score. There’s another bill, I suppose, waiting for me—somewhere. But I can settle my indebtedness to you—”
“How?”
“That’s up to you, Drene.”
“How?” repeated Drene, violently.
Graylock made a slight gesture with his head toward Drene’s sagging pocket: “That way if you like. Or,” he added, “There is a harder punishment.”
“What is it?”
“To give her up.”
“Yes,” said Drene, “that is harder. But I can make it even harder than that. I can make it as hard for you as you made it for me. I can let you live through it.”