“Yes, all but five thousand dollars.”
“Does the colonel know that?”
“Dear me, of course not! or he’d never have let her go.”
“You’re very wise,” said I. “I only wish I could have sent my money with her.”
“I’m afraid that would have made dear aunt rather bulky,” said the signorina, tittering.
“Yes, such a lot of mine’s in cash,” I said regretfully. “But won’t they find it on her?”
“Not if they’re gentlemen,” replied the signorina darkly.
Evidently I could not ask for further details; so, without more ado, I disclosed my own perilous condition and the colonel’s boasts about herself.
“What a villain that man is!” she exclaimed. “Of course, I was civil to him, but I didn’t say half that. You didn’t believe I did, Jack?”
There’s never any use in being unpleasant, so I said I had rejected the idea with scorn.