“My silence.”
“Absolutely?”
“Absolutely.”
“And you would give me the original letter written by Fothergill?”
“No. Though I am prepared to take an oath of silence for the sake of your wife and her children, I make one stipulation, namely, that I shall keep that letter.”
“Then you will always retain that in order to blackmail me?”
“I shall never blackmail you. Cannot you see that I am driven to this course by sheer desperation? Once Zoraida is safe, you will have nothing whatever to fear from me.”
“If—if I could only bury the past completely!” he moaned, gazing wildly around the room. “If only I—I could feel safe!”
“Two courses are open. You must choose between them.”
“To-morrow.”