"You've stared long enough," said Trenmore brusquely. "What is it you want with us?"
"A little fair and decent treatment perhaps," snapped Cleverest. "Do you realize what a very unpleasant position you have placed me in? Every man in the Temple is laughing at me behind his hand for standing by a gang of beggars and getting insulted for my pains!"
Viola interposed quietly. "You are mistaken, sir. None of us has ever said a word to or about you that could be construed as an insult."
"Your brother meant to include me in his tirade addressed to my uncle," the man retorted gloomily.
Terry eyed him in obstinate dislike. "You led me to forget my honor, sir, and conspire against a woman. I'm not blaming you so much as myself; but 'twas a dirty deal, and well you know it!"
"You were ready enough at the time," sneered Cleverest with more truth than was pleasant. "However, matters are not yet too late to mend. Your death won't help Loveliest now. My uncle has settled that once for all. You've blundered and blundered until the best I can do is to save you and your sister. Miss Trenmore"-he eyed the girl with a coldly calculating eye-"I love you. I am offering you more than any other man in this city could offer. I desire a beautiful and accomplished wife, and you are better qualified than any one I have met. If you marry me you will be not merely Loveliest, which is in one sense an empty title, but the future Mrs. Justice Supreme!"
"Unless," replied Viola very coolly and not at all impressed, "you should see fit to depose me before your uncle's death. You could do that, couldn't you?"
His face expressed surprise, mingled with a kind of vulpine admiration. "You knew all the time," he exclaimed with a laugh, "and hid it from me! No danger, my dear. You play fair with me and I'll stick to you. I've never seen a woman yet that could touch you for looks, brains, or manner. As an added inducement, remember that I offer your brother's life!"
Viola looked from Drayton to Terry and back again at Drayton.
"Terry!" she whispered at last. "I–I can't. Oh, forgive me, Terry! Yes, I'll do it for you. But he must save Mr. Drayton, too!"