‘Let me send the money, Diego,’ said Maria earnestly.
‘Certainly not. I forbid you to send it! Do you understand?’
Maria shrank a little, for she was hurt by the words and the tone. Was not her money her own, to use as she pleased? She checked a quick reply that rose to her lips.
‘I shall obey you,’ she answered, an instant later, as quietly as she could.
He was moving his papers nervously and aimlessly from place to place on the table, arranging and disarranging them, but he looked up quickly now.
‘I did not mean to speak as I did, my dear,’ he said. ‘Your money is yours, and you will never need it again. You have a right to use it as you will. The truth is, I am occupied with a very complicated question. Forgive me, if I was rude.’
‘Diego!’ She stretched her hand out on the smooth table, instantly reconciled.
He patted it twice, and smiled rather absently. But he was evidently preoccupied, and she rose to go.
‘We will talk over this unfortunate affair after luncheon,’ he said. ‘Will you take me for a drive? It will be easy to talk in the carriage.’
‘Yes, we will go for a drive,’ she answered.