Annesley had now crept into bed; and before she could protest Knight had carefully covered her with the down quilt. Having done this, he drew a chair near, yet not too near, and sat down. It was as if he recognized her right to keep him at a distance. "You said last night," he began, "that you didn't mean to denounce me. If you've changed your mind, I shan't blame you; I deserve it. All I ask is that you grant me time to warn certain persons who would go down if I went down, and give them time to make a bolt. Madalena de Santiago is one. I'm pretty sure that out of spite she put Ruthven Smith on to looking for the diamond, but I don't want to punish her. Evidently she--or whoever it was--didn't have much information to give, or the man wouldn't have backed down and apologized. I should like to find out exactly what he had to go upon. But if you've changed your mind, it's not worth while to bother about that----" "I have not changed my mind," Annesley said. "You are very good, a very noble woman. If I were the only one to suffer by being denounced, I don't think I'd care much, as things have turned out. But there are others. And above all, there's you. You could patch up your life, but you'd have to suffer more or less if I were dragged over the coals. And so, taking everything together, I'm thankful to accept your generosity. "We'll call that settled. I don't think Ruthven Smith has any suspicion. We'll see about that later. Meanwhile, he doesn't count. And Madalena at her worst I can manage. There's nothing to be feared. But the question is, how are we two to go on?" "You must--whatever else we decide--you must give up----" the girl stammered from her pillows, and could not bring herself to finish. "That goes without saying, doesn't it? In any case, there was only to be one more _coup_. I'd warned everybody concerned of my decision as to that." "_One more?_ How terrible! Not--_here_?" "Yes, if you must have that, too; it was to be here. It was to be a big thing. But there's time to stop it." Annesley buried her head with a stifled moan. "It wouldn't have hurt any of the people. Only family heirlooms again--everything insured. And as for the insurance companies, if you worry over them, it's part of the game. They're wallowing in money ... But I'll call the thing off. And that's the end for me. I'm not rich--not the millionaire I pose for; still, I've earned something. My 'Napoleon' has paid me well, and I've had a share now and then of some good things. There's enough to make you comfortable----" "Do you think I'd take a penny of such money?" the girl cried, sick with indignation. "I've worked for it," Knight said, with a kind of unhappy defiance, "and it was come by as honestly as a lot of fortunes made on the stock market. You must have money----" "I can earn some, as I did before." "No, _never_ as you did before! Besides, I thought you'd decided on having no open break between us, no scandal. Or wasn't that what you meant?"