"I am not at liberty to dictate terms, Madame. It is only my duty to carry out my part of the transaction; another will make terms with you."
"But when? When? We cannot be delayed a moment longer. The hour has already passed when my daughter should be before the altar. For God's sake, name your price. I will pay, I will pay," sobbed the half-crazed woman.
"Sir, do you know what you are doing?" demanded the quaking old man, finding his voice at last. "You must listen to reason. Think of yourself, if not of us. What will become of you when you are caught? Pause in this awful crime and think--"
"You are kind; Monsieur, to advise me, but it is too late."
"Will you take us to St. Gudule's?" cried the elder woman, on the verge of collapse. "I will give you all you ask, Monsieur."
"Ten thousand dollars is yours if you abandon this damnable--" began Mr. Van Dykman.
"It will avail nothing to offer me money," interrupted the master of the situation, harshly. "That is the end of it. Believe me, money is not what we are after to-night. To-morrow, perhaps, it may tempt us."
"What do you mean to do with us?" cried the girl, horror in her voice.
"We do not mean to harm you, Mademoiselle, if you are sensible and do as we command."
"But the wedding, the wedding!" moaned Mrs. Garrison. "What will they think of us? O, Monsieur, if you are one of the great diamond robbers I willingly give all that I have about me. On my person there are jewels valued at many thousand--"
"Another word, Madame, and I shall be obliged to use force," said the man, leaning forward, threateningly. In the darkness they could feel the menace in his eyes.
"You are determined to go on with this outrage?" asked Van Dykman.
"A coup so well planned as this cannot be given up, Monsieur. We flatter ourselves that no such job has ever graced the history of Europe," said the stranger, pleasantly. "Down in your hearts, I believe you will some day express admiration for the way in which the abduction has been managed."
"Abduction?" gasped Mrs. Garrison. Dorothy sank back into the corner at that word and it seemed to her that her heart would never beat again.
"Where do you mean to take us, and what is your object?" slowly asked Mrs. Garrison, a peculiar sense of resignation coming over her. It was as if she recognized the utter hopelessness of escape from the hands of these skillful wretches. She now saw that the mind which had planned the capture was one that could carry the game to the end without a flaw in the operations.