"Technically, yes! In reality I shall show that our titles were good and that our patents should issue."
"But"—the woman's bloodless fingers were tightly interlaced—"all I have, all Natalie has, is in those claims."
"Yes! And it would require another fortune the size of both to comply with the senseless vagaries of the Interior Department and to protect your interests. I grew weary of forever sending good hard-earned dollars after bad ones, merely because of the shifting whim of some theorist five thousand miles away."
"Then I am afraid—" Mrs. Gerard's voice trailed out miserably. "It is all we have, and you told me—"
Gordon broke in irritably: "My dear Gloria, spare me this painful faultfinding. If I can win for you, I shall do so, and then you will agree that I acted wisely. If I lose—it will merely be the luck of the average investor. We played for big returns, and of course the risks were great."
"But Mr. O'Neil told her his claims—"
Gordon's blazing eyes warned her. "O'Neil, eh? So, he is the 'friend in the Land Office'! No doubt he also gave Natalie the suggestion that led to her scene with you. Tell her to occupy herself less with affairs which do not concern her and more with her own conduct. Her actions with that upstart have been outrageous."
"What about your own actions with the Golden woman?" cried Mrs. Gerard, reverting with feminine insistence to the subject of their first difference. "What are you going to do about her?"
"Nothing."
"Remember, I refuse to share the same roof with her. You wouldn't ask it of your wife."