We need Mannering! Help us!" "Not I," she answered, coolly.

"You must do without him for the present." "You are our natural ally," he protested.

"We need your help now.

You know very well that with a slip of the tongue I could change the whole situation." "Somehow," she said, "I do not think that you are likely to make that slip." "Why not ?" he protested.

"I begin to understand Mannering's firmness now.
You are one of the ropes which hold him to this petty life--to this philandering amongst the flower-pots.