e him for
that. It was the only course open to a man of honor. I maintain that his
silence then binds him to silence for ever. He has no right to ruin
my life and the happiness of my wife by subtle threats, to hold
those foolish letters over our heads, like a thunderbolt held ever in
suspense. You are ambitious, I believe, Mr. Aynesworth! Get me
those letters, and I will make you my secretary, find you a seat in
Parliament, and anything else in reason that you will!"

Aynesworth rose to his feet. He wished to intimate that, so far as he
was concerned, the interview was at an end.

"Your proposition, Mr. Barrington," he said, "is absolutely impossible.
In the first place, I have no idea where the letters in question are,
and Sir Wingrave is never likely to suffer them to pass into my charge."

"You have opportunities of finding out," Barrington suggested.

"And secondly," Aynesworth continued, ignoring the interruption,
"whatever the right or the wrong of this matter may be, I am in
receipt of a salary from Sir Wingrave Seton, and I cannot betray his
confidence."

Barrington also rose to his feet. He was beginning to recognize the
hopelessness of his task.

"This is final, Mr. Aynesworth?" he asked.

"Absolutely!" was the firm reply.

Barrington bowed stiffly, and moved towards the door. On the threshold
he paused.

"I trust, Mr. Aynesworth," he said hesitatingly, "that you will not
regard this as an ordinary attempt at bribery and corruption. I have
simply asked you to aid me in setting right a great injustice."

"It is a subtle distinction, Mr. Barrington," Aynesworth answered, "but
I will endeavor to keep in mind your point of view."

Barrington drove straight home, and made his way directly to his study.
Now that he was free from his wife's influence, and looked back upon his
recent interview, he realized for the first time the folly and indignity
of the whole proceedings. He was angry that, a man of common sense, keen
witted and farseeing in the ordinary affairs of life, should have placed
himself so completely in a false, not to say a humiliating position. And
then, just as suddenly, he forgot all about himself, and remembered only
her. With a breath of violets, and the delicate rustling of half-lifted
skirts, she had come softly into the room, and stood looking at him
inquiringly. Her manner seemed to indicate more a good-natured curiosity
than real anxiety. She made a little grimace as he shook his h