"This much. You will always be in danger of being denounced by your aunt."
"Not if I give her half the fifty thousand pounds."
"Quite so, my dear, but there again, the truth must be discovered, as you can't gain possession of the money otherwise. Can you trust your servant?"
"Eliza? Oh yes. She has been with us for years. She could not have placed the eye on the drawing-room table. What time did you see it?"
"About three o'clock. I was about to enter the room through the middle window, which was open, and saw it suddenly. Then your father called me. When I returned in half-an-hour you were in the room and the eye was gone."
"I had just entered the drawing-room a few moments before you came with papa," said Gertrude thoughtfully; "and I entered through the window, as I had been seeing my aunt out of the gate. The eye certainly was not on the table then. I should have seen it otherwise, as you did."
"Well then, it was gone just before half-past three," I remarked, "and I saw it at the hour. When you were in the drawing-room before that time did you see anything?"
"No," replied Gertrude impatiently, "I told you I never saw the eye at all, Cyrus. I did not enter the drawing-room after luncheon until half-past three o'clock. In the morning I certainly saw nothing."
"Was your father in the drawing-room after luncheon?"
"Not to my knowledge. He was pottering round the greenhouses. Surely you don't suspect papa?" and her color rose.