Clara--what of her?"

"It's all arranged; she is to be Clara Stocmar, and a pensionnaire of
the Conservatoire of Milan within a week."

"Who says so?" asked Paten, defiantly.

"Her mother--well, you know whom I mean by that title--proposed, and I
accepted the arrangement. She may, or may not, have dramatic ability;
like everything else in life, there is a lottery about it. If she really
do show cleverness, she will be a prize just now. If she has no great
turn of speed, as the jocks say, she 'll always do for the Brazils and
Havannah. They never send _us_ their best cigars, and, in return, _we_
only give _them_ our third-rate singers!"

It was evident in this speech that Stocmar was trying, by a jocular
tone, to lead the conversation into some channel less irritating and
disputatious; but Paten's features relaxed nothing of their stern
severity, and he looked dogged and resolute as before.

"I think, Stocmar," said he, at length, "that there is still a word
wanting to that same bargain you speak of. If the girl's talents are to
be made marketable, why should not I stand in for something?"

"You,--you, Ludlow!" cried the other. "In the name of all that is
absurd, what pretext can _you_ have for such a claim?"

"Just this: that I am privy to the robbery, and might peach if not
bought up."

"You know well this is mere blind menace, Ludlow," said the other,
good-humoredly; "and as to letting off squibs, my boy, don't forget
that you live in a powder-magazine."

"And what if I don't care for a blow-up? What if I tell you that I 'd
rather send all sky-high to-morrow than see that woman succeed in all
her schemes, and live to defy me?"

"As to that," said Stocmar, gravely, "the man who neither cares for his
own life or character can always do damage to those of another; there is
no disputing about that."

"Well, I am exactly such a man, and _she_ shall know it." Not a word was
spoken for several minutes, and then Paten resumed, but in a calmer and
more deliberate tone, "Trover has told me everything. I see her whole
scheme. She meant to marry that old Baronet, and has been endeavoring,
by speculating in the share-market, to get some thousands together;
now, as the crash has smashed the money part of the scheme, the chances
are it will have also upset the marriage. Is not that likely?"

"That is more than I can guess," said Stocmar, doubtingly.

"_You_ can guess it, just as _I_ can," said Paten, half angrily. "S