"Quite so--quite so," interrupted the lawyer with his dry cough, "but it would be as well to avoid personal remarks. They do no good and take up valuable time. Go on, Mrs. Walker." "I want to hear what Mr. Hale has to say about the amethyst cross," said the widow with a dark look at her enemy. "I have nothing to say about it," retorted Hale, nursing his chin with his hand and leaning back with crossed legs, apparently indifferent. "Pardon me, but you have much to say," remarked Jabez precisely. "So far I merely know on the authority of Mrs. Walker--that the cross was given to this young lady," he nodded very curtly towards Lesbia, "and that in her turn she passed it to Mr. George Walker." "That is true," admitted Lesbia, seeing that she was called upon to speak. "I was told by Bridget----" "Who is Bridget?" interrupted Jabez keenly. "My late nurse. She is dead." Jabez shook his bald head. "T'cht! T'cht! T'cht! That is a pity. Go on." "Bridget told me that I was to give the cross only to the man I loved. I therefore gave it to George. He was assaulted for it on the towing-path and as it could not be found upon him, his room at Medmenham was robbed." Jabez nodded. "Mrs. Walker told me all this," he said quietly, "and the cross has never been found." "No," said Mrs. Walker. "No," said Mr. Hale. "No!" said Lesbia. "All are agreed," smiled the lawyer drily, "a most unanimous opinion. I understand," he addressed Lesbia again, "that your mother originally owned this cross and gave it to your nurse. Mrs. Walker, on the authority of her son, told me as much." "I understood that the cross had belonged to my mother," replied Lesbia, nervously glancing at her father. "Bridget told me so, when she gave it to me on her death-bed." "Then she told you wrongly," said Mr. Hale, "and at my request." "Why?" demanded Jabez, turning towards his unwilling host. "Because the cross belonged to another woman, and I did not want that known in case someone should claim it." "Ha!" said Mrs. Walker darkly. "And why did you wish to keep it?" "I--I--liked the ornament," confessed Hale hesitating, and quite forgetting the sentimental reason he had given to his daughter as to the desire to keep the cross because it had been the property of his late wife. Mrs. Walker laughed scornfully. "I believe you know the reason why the cross is so valuable," she snapped. "Yes, he does," chimed in Lesbia, who was determined to learn the reason of all this mystery. "He says that if produced it will bring him two thousand a year." "Lesbia!" Hale jumped to his feet and looked furious. "How dare you?" "How dare I?" she cried, rising in her turn. "Because you will not trust me, father, and I am in the dark. The cross is mine, and I have a right to know all that concerns it. Does the production of the cross mean gain to my father of two thousand a year?" she asked the lawyer.