"
Richardson looked uneasily around.
"I ain't admitting anything, you know," he said.
"Precisely! Well, what are you going to do now? Are you satisfied with
your first reverse, or are you going to renew the experiment?"
"I've had enough," was the dogged answer. "I've been made a fool of. I
can see that. I shall return home by the next steamer. I never ought
to have got mixed up in this."
"I am inclined to agree with you," Wingrave remarked calmly. "Do I
understand that if I choose to forget this little episode, you will
return to England by the next steamer?"
"I swear it," Richardson declared.
"And in the meantime, that you make no further attempt of a similar
nature?"
"Not I!" he answered with emphasis. "I've had enough."
"Then," Wingrave said, "we need not prolong this conversation. Forgive
my suggesting, Mr. Richardson, that whilst I am on deck, the other
side of the ship should prove more convenient for you!"
The young man rose, and without a word staggered off. Wingrave watched
him through half-closed eyes, until he disappeared.
"It was worth trying," he said softly to himself. "A very clever woman
that! She looks forward through the years, and she sees the clouds
gathering. It was a little risky, and the means were very crude. But
it was worth trying!"
THE MOTH AND THE CANDLE
"Tomorrow morning," Aynesworth remarked, "we shall land."
Wingrave nodded.
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