Wait, till Mary Connynge could summon treachery enough to slay her friend.

And yet, wait only until the primitive soul of Mary Connynge should become altogether imperative in its demands! For after all, was not this friend a woman, and is not the earth builded as it is?
And hath not God made male and female its inhabitants; and as there is war of male and male, is there not war of female and female, until the end of time?
"I came from the Lady Catharine," said Mary Connynge, slowly, "but I bring no message from her of the sort which perhaps you wished." It was a desperate, reckless lie, a lie almost certain of detection yet it was the only resource of the moment, and a moment later it was too late to recall.

One lie must now follow another, and all must make a deadly coil.
"Madam, I am sorry," said John Law, quietly, yet his face twitched sharply at the impact of these cutting words.

"Did you know of my letter to her ?" "Am I not here ?" said Mary Connynge.
"True, and I thank you deeply.

But how, why-pray you, understand that I would be set right.