The Last Woman

She shivered again, and did not reply when he paused. He continued: "Patricia Langdon, you are not one to refuse the terms of a written contract which you have signed and sealed with a full knowledge of its meaning, particularly when the other party to it insists upon its fulfillment. I am the other party to this contract, and I do insist upon its complete fulfillment. You are the last woman in the world to--"

"I am the last woman in the world--the very last!" she interrupted him, vehemently, but she did not turn her head toward him. He continued as if he had not heard her: "--to repudiate the distinct terms of an agreement you have knowingly made."

"I have already repudiated them."

"No, you have not. And you shall not."

"Shall not?"

"No."

"Do--do you mean that you would force me to a compliance with the conditions of that agreement you hold in your hand?"

"Yes--if such a course is necessary."

"But you cannot! You cannot!"

"Yes, I can; and I will, Patricia."

"Don't speak my name!" she cried out, hotly. "Don't utter it again! Don't you dare to do so! Don't you dare!"

"Very well."

"How will you force me? You cannot do it."

"There is a penalty attached to all legally drawn contracts," he lied, glibly enough; and, realizing that she was startled by what he had already said, he did not hesitate to add more to it. "I have come here prepared to insist that you fulfill your obligation. You know that I am not one to relent, once I have set my course. There are officers of the law in this county and state, as well as within the county and state where you made the contract." He stopped a moment when she shrank visibly in her chair, for he was about to say a really cruel thing. He would not have said it, had he not deemed it entirely necessary, in order to coerce her to his will; but he went on, relentlessly: "If you make it needful to do so, I shall not hesitate to send officers here, to take you before a court, there to relate why you will not carry out the conditions of your contract."

Duncan expected that Patricia would fly into a rage, at this; he thought she would leap to her feet, confront him, and defy him. He looked for a tirade of rage, of abuse, or of despair; or, failing these, for an outburst of pleading on her part that he would relent.

There was no evidence of any of these emotions. Indeed, for a moment it seemed as if she had not heard him, so still did she sit in her chair, so utterly unmoved did she appear to be by the statement he had made.