Marion had sent a messenger down town after Brett, and the latter did not lose a moment in answering the note in person. He was a little pale as he entered. "What is it?" he asked, almost before he had shaken hands. "It is kind of you to come at once," answered Marion. "I asked you to come about a matter of business. Sit down. I will explain." "Can I be of any use?" "Yes, I want some money, a great deal of money, in fact, and I want it immediately." "Are you going to buy a house?" he inquired in some surprise. "How much do you want?" "A hundred thousand dollars." Brett did not answer at once. He looked at her rather anxiously, then stared at the fire, then looked at her again. "It is rather short notice for such an amount. But you have nearly as much as that in bonds and mortgages." "Yes, I know." "Well then, there need not be any difficulty. What you have in bonds you have already, to all intents and purposes. Do I understand that you want this money in cash?" "Yes," answered Mrs. Darche with decision, "in cash." "I suppose a cheque will do as well?" suggested Brett with a smile. "A cheque?" She repeated the word and seemed to hesitate. "I should have to write my name on it, should I not?" "Yes." During the pause which followed, Marion seemed to be reviewing the aspects of the transaction. "The name of the person to whom I give it?" she asked at last, and she seemed to avoid his glance. "Yes," answered Brett, surprised at the inexperience betrayed by the question, "unless you cashed it yourself and took the money in notes." "No," said Mrs. Darche, as firmly as before. "I want the notes here, please. What I want you to do, is to take enough bonds and get the money for me. I do not care to know anything else about it, because I shall not understand." "I suppose I ought not to be inquisitive, my dear friend," replied Brett after a little hesitation, "but I ought to tell you what you do not seem to realise, that a hundred thousand dollars is a great deal of money and that you ought not to keep such a sum in the house." "I do not mean to keep it in the house. It is to be taken away immediately." "I see." He concluded that the money was to be taken from the house by John Darche, and he determined to prevent such a result if possible. "May I ask one question?" he inquired. "I will not promise to answer it." She still looked away from him. "I hope you will. Do you mean to lend this money to some one? If it were an ordinary payment you would certainly not want it in notes in the house." "How do you know?" asked Marion with some impatience. "Because no human man of business with whom I have ever had anything to do likes to trot about town with a hundred thousand dollars' worth of notes in his pocket. And there is very little doubt in my mind about what you mean to do with the money. You mean to give it to your husband. Am I right?" Mrs. Darche blushed a little and a shade of annoyance crossed her face.