"If I put it into the tea-pot, it might be wasted; he might not drink all the tea. He never lets me pour it out for him. Would it alter the look of the milk?"
"Not at all."
"Then I could put it into his cream-jug, and give him so little that he's sure to use it all and ring for more. He likes a deal of milk in his tea."
"Then you will do it, Sabina?"
Again Sabina hesitated. Finally she said, with sudden decision—
"Give me that twenty pound, and then I will."
"Not until you have earned it."
"If I don't have it beforehand, I won't do it at all," said Sabina doggedly.
Mrs. Vane shrugged her shoulders slightly, opened her bag, and put the little bottle back into its place.
"You said you could trust me; show me that you can," said Sabina, unmoved by this pantomime. "One of us will have to trust the other. I may do it, and then—who knows?—you may back out of the bargain."