"Yes, yes, that's it; and if he has it, what next?" said he meaningly.
"Well, then, opportunity, joined to coolness, knowledge of men, power of
combination, strategy, and"--she paused, and a purely feminine curiosity
impelled her to add suggestively--"and a woman."
He nodded. "And a woman," he repeated after her musingly, and not turning
it to account cavalierly, as he might have done. He was taking himself
with a simple seriousness that appealed to her.
"You may put strategy out of the definition, leaving in the woman," she
continued ironically.
He felt the point, and her demure dart struck home. But he saw what an
ally she might make. Tremendous possibilities moved before him. His heart
beat faster than it did yesterday when the old sergeant faced him. Here
was beauty--he admired that; power--he wished for that. What might he not
accomplish, no matter how wild his move, with this wonderful creature as
his friend, his ally, his----He paused, for this house had a master as
well as a mistress.
"We will leave in the woman," he said quietly, yet with a sort of trouble
in his face.
"In your idea?" was the negligent question.
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