“The fire of my love for you burned itself out on that tragic night,” she replied.
“How very poetic,” he sneered. “Is it your habit to talk to Bracondale like that?”
She bit her lip. Mention of Bracondale’s name caused a flood of great bitterness to overwhelm her.
“I did not expect, when you came here, that you would insult me in addition to blackmailing me.”
“Blackmail, you call it—eh?”
“What else is it?”
“A simple purchase, my girl. I have a letter, and you wish to buy it. The transaction is surely a fair one! Besides, if you do not wish to buy my silence, it is quite immaterial to me. I shall soon find another purchaser in Bracondale.”
“He won’t believe you.”
“He has only to have a search made of the marriage register. Perhaps you don’t remember the date. I do.”
“And I, worse luck! Ah, how grossly you deceived me!” she exclaimed bitterly. “I thought I married a gentleman, only, alas! to discover that I had a notorious thief as husband.”