He had only a word.

The slender vantage that he had, he meant to use adroitly, craftily.

And he knew that the first thing was to close this interview without losing any ground.

The longer she remained bound, the better for him.

And with his craft against the country girl's simplicity it would have fared badly with Julia had it not been for one defect which always inheres, in a bad man's plots in such a case.