'You need more than that, don't you?' he asked, when she had finished.
'A little more, perhaps,' she said quietly, though she could not quite conceal her disappointment, as she folded the notes and slipped them into the envelope again. 'But I shall try to make this last. Thank you very much.'
'I like you,' said Mr. Van Torp. 'You're the real thing. They'd call you a chief's daughter in the South Seas. But I'm not so mean as all that. I only thought you might need a little cash at once. That's all.'
A loud knocking at the outer door prevented the lady from answering.
She looked at Mr. Van Torp in surprise.
'What's that?' she asked, rather anxiously.
'I don't know,' he answered. 'He couldn't guess that you were here, could he?'
'Oh no! That's quite out of the question!'
'Then I'll open the door,' said the millionaire, and he left the sitting-room.
The lady had not risen, and she still leaned back in her seat. She idly tapped the knuckles of her gloved hand with the small envelope.