“You wish to tease me?”
“Maybe.”
“Please!”
“Why do you want to know? Are you afraid they're fakes?”
“No, they're beautiful—they're wonderful.”
“Well, if you don't want them,” he broke in angrily, “I'll keep them. I'll sell them.”
“Don't tease me, Jim!” she begged. “I don't mind if you bought them at a pawn-shop—if that's why you won't tell me. That is the reason, isn't it? Honestly, isn't it?”
She asked the question with eager intensity. She had persuaded herself that it was so and the horror had been lifted. She pressed close with smiling, trembling lips:
“I don't mind that, Jim! You got them from a pawn-broker, of course, didn't you?”
He looked at her with a puzzled expression and hesitated.