“I wouldn’t act like that if I were offered a thousand pounds,” she declared.
“But it must be done,” he urged.
“Not by me.”
“Do you intend to back out, then?” he inquired roughly.
“I merely tell you plainly that you and your ruffianly associates have gone quite far enough. That’s all,” she answered calmly. Her words were not those which a woman usually uses towards her lover.
He gave vent to a short, brutal laugh, as if enjoying her indignation.
“It’s all very well to talk like this, Aline,” he said; “but you know quite well that argument is useless. You must do it.”
“I will not, I tell you!” she cried fiercely.
“Well, we shall see,” he answered. “Recollect that you are one of us, and as such, to break away is impossible.”
“I know that, only too well,” she answered bitterly. “But it is terrible—horrible! As each day passes I am more and more convinced that the truth must soon be discovered.”