Page 275 (1/1)

"No And I shall not free you, Sylvia This--all this can be adjusted in time"

"As you please," she said slowly

"In time," he repeated, his passionless voice now under perfect control He turned and looked at Leila; all the wickedness of his anger was concentrated in his gaze Then he took his leave of theotten the whole scene; and aMercedes ran out into a half-circle, backed, wheeled, and rolled away through the thickening dusk, the glare of the acetylenes sweeping the deserted street

Into the twilight sped Quarrier, head bent, but his soft, dark-lashed eyes of a woht was now bent to this newest phase of the sa simpler to solve every minute Of all the luxuries he permitted himself openly or furtively, one--the rarest of them all--his self-denial had practically eli where no end was served save that of mere personal satisfaction The temptation of this luxury now presented itself; and the ratification were so simple, so secret, so easy to command, that the temptation became almost a duty

Siward he had not turned out of his way to injure; Siward had been in the way, that was all, and his ruin was to have been reeable coincidence with the purposed ruin of Aments But here was a new phase; Mrs Mortimer, whom he had expected to use, and if necessary sacrifice, had suddenly turned vicious And he now hated her as coldly as he hated Major Belwether for betraying suspicions of a similar nature As for Plank, fear and hatred of hi hatred and conte Plank if Mortiht There remained Sylvia, whom he had selected as the fittest object attainable to trans, of affection, of passion he had ever entertained for her had quieted to indifference and the uneed for Now of a sudden, this young girl he had bought--he knohat she sold and what he was paying for--had beco himself and another woman; a wo her own friends

And he knew enough of Sylvia to know that if anybody could once arouse her suspicion nothing on earth could induce her to look into his face again Suppose Leila should do so this evening?