"No danger of that now. The ingots are all safe;" and the man gave a shrug.
"Lyon—"
"My name is Falkner. Don't forget it, if you please!" The speaker contracted his brows.
"Falkner, then. What I want to say is this: Let well enough alone. If the ingots are safe, permit them to remain so. Don't be foolhardy enough to put any one on the scent of them."
"Don't be troubled about that. I have sacrificed too much in gaining the wealth desired ever to hold it with a careless or relaxing grasp. And yet its mere possession brings not the repose of mind, the sense of independence, that were so pleasingly foreshadowed. Something is yet lacking to make the fruition complete. I want a companion; and there is only one, in the wide world, who can be to me what I desire."
"Fanny Markland?"
"Yes."
"You wish to make her your wife?"
"She is too pure to be happy in any other relation. Yes; I wish to gain her for my bride."
"A thing more difficult than you imagine."