She finished with an effort. "And you wanted—a wife?"
"Good God!" he said slowly.
"I could be of use to you," she explained quickly. "More than Judith. See how your men come to me for advice?"
"Your husband is but two months in his grave," he cried. "And you wear Wayne's jewels at your throat!"
"But I don't mean to do it at once," she said, aggrieved. "For a few months it could be—understood."
"I see," he said, mastering his disgust. "Anything more, Lydia?"
"And I should like to leave something to remember us by," she went on, taking confidence. "So that they shall feel that we aren't just beaten."
"How will you do it?"
"They are like a big family," she said. "Hurt one, and the others are against you. I think they combined against you out of revenge for—Judith, as much as to help Mather."
"Perhaps," he commented.