and the better for you, too.

"You will be surprised, and probably angry, to hear from
your secretary that I have visited your office. I went,
primarily, because I wanted to meet Miss Marne, but also
because I knew she ought to mail that letter and, finally,
because I wanted to reassure her about your absence and
prevent any measures being taken to search for you. The
first reason is none of your affair and on the other two
counts you ought to be grateful to me, though I don't
suppose you will be. I took some trouble to find out about
the matters on which that letter bore, because I knew how
important you considered them. You may find it difficult to
believe, but it is true that, although I despise and loathe
you, I did not wish to be responsible for such smash-up of
your plans as longer delay in the sending of your letter
would have caused. The bond between us is too close, Felix
Brand, for me not to feel compassion for you sometimes.

"I could have kept you away longer this time if I had not
felt sorry for Miss Annister. It was on her account that I
let you return when I did. Don't make her suffer that way
again. If you don't give her beforehand some sort of
plausible preparation for your next absence--for there will
be another, and that before long--I shall enable her father
to find out some plain truths about you that may complicate
matters for you in that quarter.

"My mind is made up, Felix Brand. There is not room in the
world for both you and me. I shall try not to hurt you
publicly again, because it does no good. And efficient
measures are the only ones that appeal to me. But I am going
to do my best to push you off the edge for good and all. I
have doubted and hesitated and argued the matter over and
over with myself and tried to see some way of compromise.
But you will not come my way and I loathe yours. And you
know quite well that you yourself are responsible for the
whole business, even for the fate that awaits you. You will
merely suffer the consequences of your own actions. For I
believe I shall win. I know that you will put up a good
fight, for we have fought before, and, so far, you have won
oftener than I have. But in the end, I shall win. I dare say
you will think it impertinent in me to add that I am