"Yes, you have told me that, but I find it difficult to reconcile that statement with the presence of the IOUs in his safe. If his motives in obtaining possession of them were as chivalrous as you say they were, it would surely have been more natural for him either to have destroyed them, or to have given them back to you?"
"Are you suggesting that he was trying to blackmail me? It isn't true! Good heavens, what could he possibly want to blackmail me for?"
"Perhaps he wanted something from you which you were unwilling to give, Mrs. North."
She flushed. "Oh - ! You've no right to say that! Besides, how could he blackmail me? It isn't a sin to get into debt!"
"He might have threatened to lay your IOUs before your husband, might he not?"
"He wouldn't - he wasn't like that!" she said faintly.
"Where is your husband, Mrs. North?"
"He's in Berlin. He went last week, and won't be back till next Wednesday."
Even as the words left her lips he saw her face change. The click of an opening door had sounded. Hannasyde turned quickly. A man had entered the room, and was standing on the threshold, his hand resting on the doorknob, his cool, rather stern grey eyes surveying the group in the middle of the room.