Thatcher's threat."
"What am I going to do?" he broke out angrily. "I'm going into that
caucus and beat Thatcher's game; I'm going to tell his story first! But
don't misunderstand me; I'm going to protect you. I know men, and those
men will respect me for coming out with it. I haven't been in politics
all these years to be beaten at last by Ed Thatcher. I've pledged votes
enough to-day to give me a majority of three on the next ballot; but
I'll explode Thatcher's bombshell in his own hands. I'm all prepared for
him; I have the documents--the marriage certificate and the whole
business. But you won't suffer; you won't be brought into it. That's
what I'm going to do about it!"
The failure of his declaration to shake her composure disturbed him;
perhaps after all his contemplated _coup_ was not so charged with
electricity as he had imagined. Nothing in his bald statement of his
marriage to her mother and the subsequent desertion had evoked the
reproach, the recrimination, for which he had steeled himself when she
entered the room. He felt his hold upon the interview lessening. He had
believed himself expert in calculating effects, yet apparently she had
heard his announcement, delivered with a brutal directness, without
emotion.
"This isn't quite all, Mr. Bassett," Sylvia began after a moment. "You
have offered me reparation, or what you called by that name.
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