"Once she is my wife, I can influence her more easily, Enistor. As you know, I have no feeling of love for either man or woman. That philanthropic sentiment of sacrifice for humanity is disagreeable to me. In black magic, as in white, one must live like what is called a saint to be powerful. To be absolutely free you should never have married." "Yet you propose to make the same mistake." "There is no mistake about the matter," said Narvaez calmly, "my marriage with your daughter will be no marriage in the accepted sense of the word. I simply wish to bind her to me, so that I can train the clairvoyance she possesses which is so valuable to me. I can give her plenty of money----" "You won't give it to me," interposed the other hastily. "Of course not. Why should I? Nothing for nothing is the rule of the Left-hand Path. But that I require your services and cannot dispense with them I should not waste my time teaching you my knowledge. However, the situation stands thus. I am to marry your daughter, and when I train her clairvoyantly--waken her sleeping powers, that is--we may learn from her reading of the Akashic Records what danger threatens." "There is a danger then?" "Yes, and a very real one, which has to do with this adversary I told you about. A desire to defeat him brought me to you, and as he is your enemy as well as mine, you are wise to obey me in all things." "Yet I know that when you have no further use for me, you will cast me aside as of no account," said Enistor bitterly. "Why not?" rejoined the other coolly. "You would act in the same way." "I am not so sure that I would." "Ah. You have still some human weakness to get rid of before you can progress on the path along which you ask me to lead you. I have no use for weaklings, Enistor. Remember that." The host drew himself up haughtily. "I am no weakling!" "For your own sake, to-morrow, I hope you are not." "Why to-morrow?" "Because a blow will fall on you." Enistor looked uneasy. "A blow! What kind of a blow?" "Something to do with a loss of expected money. That is all I can tell you, my friend. You keep certain things from me, so if you are not entirely frank, how can you expect me to aid you?" Enistor dropped into his chair again, and the perspiration beaded his dark face. "A loss of expected money," he muttered, "and Lucy is ill." "Who is Lucy?" "My sister who lives in London. A widow called Lady Staunton. She has five thousand a year which she promised years ago to leave to me, so that I might restore the fortunes of the Enistor family. I had news a week ago that she is very ill, and this week I was going up to see her in order to make sure she had not changed her mind." "It is useless your going to see Lady Staunton," said Narvaez leisurely, "for she _has_ changed her mind and has made a new will." Enistor scowled and clenched his hands. "How do you know?"