Teddy considered for a moment. "If the box were back in its old place," he said slowly, "that would end the matter in one way—"
"In every way, for Alan and I would never meet again—"
"You know Alan better than that, Doris. It is possible that Alan is not yet aware of the—the loss; even possible that Caw has not discovered it."
"Oh! if I could only hope for that!—not that I could ever face Alan again. But, Teddy—"
"Well," he said deliberately, "it might be worth while to act on the possibility. If you think so, I'm your man, Doris."
"You—you would take the box?" Her suddenly shining eyes gazed up at his face in such gratitude and admiration that he turned slightly away. "You would risk your friendship with Alan—"
"Nonsense! Don't put it that way, Doris; and don't talk of never facing Alan again. All this will pass. The thing we want to do now is to make it pass as quickly as possible. Give me the box and the necessary directions, and I'll do my best."
"Oh, you are good! I confess I thought of your doing it, but the idea came all of a sudden and I hated it. I still hate it. It's making you do an underhand thing; it's cheating Alan in a way."
"It's returning his property, anyway," said Teddy, not too easily. "But the more I think of it, the more necessary it seems. For we do not know that the box belongs to Alan alone; and supposing others were interested in the diamonds, false though they are, Alan might be forced to—to act. So let me have it now, and I'll clear out, for I can tell you I'm pretty funky about meeting Mrs. Lancaster with it in my hand. And, Doris, it's plain to me that your father is somehow bound to Mr. Bullard. If you can, find out how much—excuse my bluntness—it would take to free him. I'm a poor devil, yet I might be able to do something in some way—"
"Oh, Teddy, Teddy, what am I to say to you?"