"'Blackmail' is not a word to be used between gentlemen," he protested.
"Look here, can't you behave like a decent fellow--an ordinary human
being, you know? You are not exactly my sort, but I am sure you're a man
of honour, I haven't any objection to your friendship with my wife--none
in the world."
"The sentiments which I entertain for your wife, Lord Dredlinton,"
Wingate declared, "are not sentiments of friendship."
Dredlinton paused in the act of lighting a cigar.
"What's that?" he exclaimed. "You mean that, after all, you've humbugged
me, both of you?"
"Not in the way you seem to imagine. This much, however, is true, and it
is just as well that you should know it. I love your wife and I intend to
take her from you, in her time and mine."
Dredlinton lit his cigar and threw himself back into his chair.
"Well, you don't mince matters," he muttered.
"I see no reason why I should," was the calm reply.
"After all," Dredlinton observed, with a cynical turn of the lips, "I see
no reason why I should object. Josephine's been no wife of mine for
years. Perhaps you have a fancy for your love affairs wrapped up in a
little ice frosting."
Wingate's eyes flashed.
"That'll do," he advised, with ominous calm.
"Eh?"
"We will not discuss your wife."
Dredlinton shrugged his shoulders.
"As you will.
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