“You? What can he do to hurt you?”
“Much. I stole a rough diamond that day we went to the De Beers office. It was only by grace of him that I was not arrested.”
Loree shrank back, horrified.
“O God—how dreadful!”
“Dreadful, yes,” agreed Valeria tonelessly. “But you? Did you not steal, too?”
“I?”
Mrs Cork’s speech assumed its usual biting flavour.
“Did you know that the rose diamond you found on your table was not yours? Or did you suppose that an angel had come down from heaven to present you with it?”
“The rose diamond?” faltered Loree.
“Yes—your ‘pink topaz.’”