No one knows
where his grip may fall, for he is far too rich and far too
cunning to work from hand to mouth. He will hold a card back
for years in order to play it at the moment when the stake is
best worth winning. I have said that he is the worst man in
London, and I would ask you how could one compare the ruffian
who in hot blood bludgeons his mate with this man, who
methodically and at his leisure tortures the soul and wrings
the nerves in order to add to his already swollen money-bags?"
I had seldom heard my friend speak with such intensity of feeling.
"But surely," said I, "the fellow must be within the grasp
of the law?"
"Technically, no doubt, but practically not. What would it
profit a woman, for example, to get him a few months'
imprisonment if her own ruin must immediately follow? His
victims dare not hit back. If ever he blackmailed an innocent
person, then, indeed, we should have him; but he is as cunning
as the Evil One. No, no; we must find other ways to fight him."
"And why is he here?"
"Because an illustrious client has placed her piteous case
in my hands. It is the Lady Eva Brackwell, the most beautiful
DEBUTANTE of last season.
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