"I felt certain it would earn your admiration," he returned.
"My dear Pinsent," he said, smiling, "complete candour is the privilege of the all-powerful, and that am I--at least in your regard. I can perfectly afford to be perfectly frank with you, because I can compel you to serve me even should you decide to disobey me."
"The thing is as simple as A, B, C. If you are so foolish as to refuse to play the part I have assigned, I shall render you three parts--instead of entirely invisible. I shall make your bonds, however, entirely invisible. You will then be put to certain electrical tortures of my invention, and I shall invite Miss Ottley to observe the spectacle of a soul in pain. I confess I should prefer you to behave like a sensible ghost and talk to her in the manner I have indicated; but you must admit that in the alternative she will, nevertheless, be forced to a conclusion flattering alike to my ambition and my pride."
"Is it possible that you are all the heartless scoundrel you pretend? Can you really find pleasure in the notion of winning the woman you are presumed to love--by a trick so infamous and despicable?"
"On the contrary, my dear enemy, I am just an ordinary human being who has been seduced by the most extraordinary temptation that has ever been offered to a living being. A power has been placed at my disposal which puts me on a level with the immortal gods of ancient Greece. In deciding to make use of it, I have adopted their ideas of morality, almost, as it were, perforce. I now make a cult of my convenience, and a religion of the indulgence of my instincts. I intend henceforth to kill always what I hate, to possess what I love, to seize what I covet, and to enjoy what I desire. Miss Ottley dislikes and despises me. That has irritated my vanity to such an extent that it is necessary to my happiness that I should convert her dislike into subjection, her contempt into the unbounded reverence of fear. When she becomes my wife I shall be the master of her millions--her father is on the point of dissolution--and I shall be the tyrant of her person. I shall rule her with a rod of iron terror. That domination will give me a far greater joy than the vulgar pleasure of reciprocated passion. And not the least part of it will dwell in the reflection that you, my dear enemy, will have so largely and so unwillingly contributed to the gratification of my sweet will. Now you have all the facts before you. My cards are all exposed. It is for you to make up your mind what you will do. Don't decide immediately! There is no hurry. Think the matter over. As I am rather weary" (he yawned in my face), "I shall now leave you to your meditations till the morning. Good-night."