"I have mine already," she replied sadly. "Now, Dr. Vimpany, let me pay you, and get rid of your company."
He counted the money carefully and put it in the banker's bag in his coat-pocket. "Thank you, my lady. We have exchanged compliments enough over this job."
"I hope—I pray—that we may never set eyes on you again."
"I cannot say. People run up against each other in the strangest manner, especially people who've done shady things and have got to keep in the background."
"Enough!—enough!"
"The background of the world is a very odd place, I assure you. It is full of interesting people. The society has a piquancy which you will find, I hope, quite charming. You will be known by another name, of course?"
"I shall not tell you by what name—"
"Tut—tut! I shall soon find out. The background gets narrower when you fall into misery."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, Lady Harry, that your husband has no idea whatever as to the value of money. The two thousand that you are taking him will vanish in a year or two. What will you do then? As for myself, I know the value of money so well that I am always buying the most precious and delightful things with it. I enjoy them immensely. Never any man enjoyed good things so much as I do. But the delightful things cost money. Let us be under no illusions. Your ladyship and your noble husband and I all belong to the background; and in a year or two we shall belong to the needy background. I daresay that very soon after that the world will learn that we all belong to the criminal background. I wish your ladyship a joyful reunion with your husband!"