“I will give you a little time,” he answered.
Then she withdrew her hands from between his and sped up stairs, leaving him looking into the fire with troubled face.
When she returned to her room the candles were still burning, and the diamonds lay on the dressing-table where she had left them. She took the brooch and earrings to return them to their box, and then noticed for the first time that they were wrapped in paper, not in cotton-wool. She tapped at her aunt’s door, and entering asked if she had any cotton-wool that she could spare her.
“No, I have not. What do you want it for?”
“For the jewelry. It cannot have come from a shop, as it was wrapped in paper only.”
“It will take no hurt. Wrap it in paper again.”
“I had rather not, auntie. Besides, I have some cotton-wool in my workbox.”
“Then use it.”
“But my workbox has not been brought here. It is at Mr. Menaida’s.”
“You can fetch it to-morrow.”