"You consent, do you
not?"
"I am not sure," she answered. "But, even supposing I do consent, there
is Paulina to be consulted. How is she to be induced to call you Mr.
Carton and my cousin?"
"I will undertake to persuade Madame Durski that it will be for her
best interests to consent," said Carrington. "And now to my
explanation. Reginald Eversleigh is a man who is not to be trusted for
a moment, even where his own interests are closely concerned. He cares
nothing for Paulina; he knows the best thing that can happen to him
would be her marriage with Dale, for he calculates upon his hold over
the wife giving him the chance of a good share of the husband's money
in some way. Yet, such is his vanity, so unmanageable is his temper,
that if he were not too much afraid of me, too much in my power, he
would indulge them both at the cost of destroying our plan. If he knew
me to be absent, or unable to present myself freely here, he would
persecute Paulina--she would never be free from him. He would
compromise his own chance with the heiress, which is, naturally, my
chief consideration, and compromise her with Douglas Dale. Again, I do
not mind admitting to you, Miss Brewer, that I am of a cautious and
suspicious temperament; and when I pay an agent liberally, as I intend
to pay you, I always like to see for myself how the work is done."
"That argument, at least, is unanswerable," she replied.
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