"Put me down!"
He drew his head back to look at her.
"Why?"
"I'll tell you in a minute. Put me down."
He set her on her feet, and she stood there, swaying, her lips parted.
At last she said, "I love you," but held out her hand as if to keep him from her. "I love you—but I mustn't let you—love me."
"Why not?"
"Because—oh, Justin," she was stripping off her gloves, "oh, I've tried to hide these," pitifully, "to hide these from you. I wanted my little moment of happiness, too. But now you've got to know."
The gloves were off, and the last rays of the setting sun, striking the great jewels, brought fire which seemed to blind Justin's eyes.
He caught her hands in his, roughly. "Who gave them to you?" he demanded. "Who gave them to you, Bettina?"