"If there is another man--" "As if there must be!" interrupted Bryce.
"Then he's safe!" concluded Folliot.

"You'll get nothing from me about him!" "And nobody can get at you except through him ?" asked Bryce.
"That's about it," assented Folliot laconically.
Bryce laughed cynically.
"A pretty coil!" he said with a sneer.

"Here! You talked about my price.
I'm quite content to hold my tongue if you'd tell me something about what happened seventeen years ago." "What ?" asked Folliot.
"You knew Brake, you must have known his family affairs," said Bryce.
"What became of Brake's wife and children when he went to prison ?" Folliot shook his head, and it was plain to Bryce that his gesture of dissent was genuine.
"You're wrong," he answered.

"I never at any time knew anything of Brake's family affairs.

So little indeed, that I never even knew he was married." Bryce rose to his feet and stood staring.
"What!" he exclaimed.