Why, then, should you remain to be tormented by your creditors? Return
to Paris, where you have twice as many devoted slaves and admirers as
in this detestable straight-laced land of ours. I will slip across as
soon as ever I can settle my affairs here some way or other, and once
more you may be queen of a brilliant _salon_, while I--"
"While you may find a convenient cat's paw for getting hold of new
plunder," cried Paulina, with unmitigated scorn. Then, with a sudden
burst of passion, she exclaimed, "Oh, Sir Reginald Eversleigh, I thank
Providence for this interview. At last--at last, I understand you
completely. I have been testing you, Sir Reginald--I have been sounding
your character. I have stooped to beg for help from you, in order that
I might know the broken reed on which I have leaned. And now I can
laugh at you, and despise you. Go, Sir Reginald Eversleigh; this house
is mine--my home--no longer a private gambling-house--no longer a snare
for the delusion of your rich friends. I am no longer friendless. My
debts have been paid--paid by one who, if he had owned but one
sixpence, would have given it to me, content to be penniless himself
for my sake. I have no need of your help. I am not obliged to creep
away in the night like a felon, from the house that has sheltered me. I
can now dare to call myself mistress of this house, unfettered by debt,
untrammelled by the shameful secrets that made my life odious to me;
and my first act as mistress of this house shall be to forbid its doors
to you.
Pages:
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578