"Mrs. Price, I’ll speak frankly. I think your child is in the hands of a pretty desperate person or persons. But I have no apprehension that they’ll do her any harm. They don’t want to do that—it’s too dangerous. What they might do if their plans fail is a thing we’ll not consider—it’ll only weaken your nerve. And that’s what you’ve got to keep hold of. You’ll get her back all right, but you must be cool and brave." "I’ll be anything; I’ll be like another person. I’ll _do_ anything. No one need be afraid I’ll be weak or silly _now_." "Good—that’s the way to talk. Now let me know a little about the way the situation stands. It’s odd I’ve seen nothing about this in the papers—heard nothing. Your family must be active in some direction. What are they doing?" A sudden color burnt in her wasted cheeks. "They suspect my husband. They think he did it—to—to—get square. We’d quarreled—separated—and he’d made threats." "Ah, yes, yes, I see—kidnaped his own child, and they’re keeping it quiet. I understand perfectly. But _you_ didn’t believe this?" She shook her head and bit on her underlip to control its trembling. "No—I couldn’t, though I tried to. I knew he wouldn’t have done it—it’s not—it’s not—like him. And then while I was thinking the letter came, and I knew, no matter what they thought, no matter what the facts were, that _that_ was true." "Um," Larkin, his mouth compressed, nodded in understanding. "You would know better than any one else. In these matters instinct is one of the most important factors." He was silent for a moment, then looked at her, a glance of piercing question. "Do I understand that you are willing to enter into these negotiations?" "Willing!" she cried. "Why should I be here if I wasn’t willing?" "Yes, yes, exactly, but let us understand one another. What I mean is are you willing—realizing what they are—to deal with them on their own terms? In short, pay them what they ask and let them go?" "Of course." She almost cried it out in her effort to make him comprehend her position. "_That’s_ what I want to do; that’s why I haven’t told any of my own people and won’t. I’d have gone straight to my mother with this but I knew she wouldn’t agree to it, she’d get the police, want to fight them and bring them to justice." "Could you be relied on to maintain the secrecy necessary?" "I can be relied on for anything. Oh, Mr. Larkin, if you knew what I feel you wouldn’t waste time asking these questions." He answered very gently: "Mrs. Price, I appreciate your feelings to the full, but this is a hazardous undertaking. You don’t want to rush into it without realizing what it means. There is the question of money for example—the ransom. Your family is known for its wealth. You can be pretty certain that the parties you’re dealing with will hold the child for a large sum." Suzanne clasped her hands on her breast and the tears, brimming in her eyes, spilled over, falling in a trickle down her cheeks.