"Send for him. Let him be here in my room at seven o'clock this evening."
"He—wants—money," faltered Mrs. Chalmers.
"Money? I thought to have to pay a higher price for his services than that. Certainly he can have money—Carlita's money," she added, maliciously. "Give him all he wants, but have him here at seven. I am going out to drive with your ward. Look here! There'll be a game of poker here tonight. It'll be a rattler, too, and don't you forget it! I want you to have your wits about you, and not go wool-gathering. Carlita will play."
"Carlita!"
"You look as shocked as if I had told you I intended to murder her. She must win. Win heavily, you understand?"
"She has consented to play?"
"No; but I mean that she shall before the evening is over. Take care that the supper afterward is exceptionally nice, and make sure that there is plenty of champagne."
"You mean that she shall drink that?"
"I do. I know her hot Southern temperament. There will be no half measures with her when she has once learned her lesson. A useless waste of time might be fatal to my plans, and I do not propose that there shall be a moment lost. I don't want you to come down there tonight looking as you do now. Clear up your lugubrious countenance, get that black stripe out of your hair, and come down as your old smiling self. If you fail me, you know well enough that there will be another added in my list for vengeance."
"Is it possible that you are human, Jessica?"