She put her tea cup on the tray with a little tinkle and suddenly covered her eyes with the palms of her hands.
"Oh, oh, oh!" she cried. "Why couldn't he have been satisfied?"
"What is it, my dear?"
"Money," she answered with a staggering breath. "Money. And it couldn't buy a moment that was as sweet as this."
The fair curly head tilted forward into the black silk lap. Mrs. Barraclough's hands went round the girl's shoulders and held them tight. They were shaking so.
A clergyman passing down the road halted for a moment and peered over the yew hedge into the open windows of the room. But nobody took any notice of him and he couldn't hear the words that were spoken. Had he heard he would not have understood for they were only the kind noises with which one woman will comfort another.
Mrs. Barraclough could almost feel the hot tears soak through the fabric of her gown.
CHAPTER 16.
A HYPHEN.
When first the question of radium arose in this chronicle it will be remembered that Barraclough, under considerable pressure, yielded the secret of the map reference to his fiancée, and by this very act made a present of it, through the pages of narrative, to whosoever might chance to read.