“The heart of the mystery lies in her not wishing to try to get the jewels back. That, to me, is inexplicable. Because we women love jewels. And no woman carries about jewels worth fifty thousand pounds without caring very much for them.”
“Just what I have thought,” said Craven.
After a short silence he added:
“Could Lady Sellingworth possibly have known who had stolen the jewels, do you think?”
“What! And refrained from denouncing the thief!”
“She might have had a reason.”
Miss Van Tuyn’s keen though still girlish eyes looked sharply into Craven’s for an instant.
“I believe you men, you modern men are very apt to think terrible things about women,” she said.
Craven warmly defended himself against this abrupt accusation.
“Well, but what did you mean?” persisted Miss Van Tuyn. “Now, go against your sex and be truthful for once to a woman.”