“Youareafoolishperson，“shesaidcalmly。“Youaresofoolishthatyouarenot，inallprobability，intheslightestdegreedangerous。Believeme，oursisanunequalduel。Thereisabelluponthistablewhichhasapparentlyescapedyournotice。Isitwithmyfingeruponthebutton-so。Ihaveonlytopressit，andtheservantswillbehere。Idonotwishtopressit。Idonotdesirethatyoushouldbe，asyoucertainlywouldbe，banishedfromthishouse。“
Hewasimmenselypuzzled。Shehadnotresentedhisstrangeintrusion。Shehadacceptedit，indeed，withcuriousequanimity。
Herforefingerlingeredstilloverthelittleivoryknobofthebellattachedtoherdesk。Heshruggedhisshoulders。
“Youhavetheadvantageofme，“headmitted，alittlecurtly。“Allthesame，IthinkIcouldpossessmyselfofthosesheetsofpaper，youknow，beforethebellwasanswered。“
“Woulditbewise，Iwonder，then，toensuretheirsafety？“sheaskedcoolly。