He looked at her keenly, turning his head with a gesture of avoidance, but still reading her with his eyes.
"What do you want now, madame?"
She absolutely turned pale to the lips. There was no anger in his tone, but it cut through her flippancy like a sword.
"What do I want, Nelson?" she faltered.
"Yes, how much?"
The tones were sharp with sarcasm; she winced under them, and slowly removed her arm from his shoulder. The massive bracelets she wore jingled faintly with the motion. Nelson glanced at them with a bitter sneer.
"Those things were not among the jewels I gave you."
She flushed to the temples.
"No," she said, with some truth; "you always seemed anxious and troubled, so——"
"So you accepted these from some one else?"