"No. She is a very obstinate woman when the fit takes her." But the fit apparently did not seal Miss Cork's mouth on this occasion. A soft knock at the door told of her return, and she presented herself quietly. Picking up the cloth she proceeded to lay the table, and without looking at the men proceeded to exculpate herself. "I ask your pardon," she said, in her whispering voice. "I ask your pardon, Mr. Jarman, and yours, sir, but the name Balkis--" Here she stopped, and laid her hand on her heart. "I had a child of that name." "Ah!" said Jarman, sympathetically, while Frank still looked suspicious. "And the name brings sad memories to you?" Miss Cork nodded. "I'm a married woman," she said softly, "but my husband left me to starve--with the child, and--and--" "And the child died?" "No?" she burst out fiercely. "The child was stolen!" "By whom?" Miss Cork stopped, and her fingers worked convulsively, as though they were clutching at a throat. "I wish I knew--I wish I knew!" she said, savagely, and the expression of her lean face surprised Jarman, who had always considered her an apathetic woman. Perhaps his looks warned her that she was betraying too much of her unknown past, for she pulled herself up with a faint titter. "I'm a Billericay woman myself," she began, when Jarman cut her short. "That's nonsense!" he said sternly. "You know you are not." "I've said all I have to say," said Miss Cork, quite irrelevantly, "and if you aren't pleased, Mr. Jarman, I'll go." "I don't want you to go, and I ask you nothing," he replied. "My child was called Balkis," went on Miss Cork, "and she was stolen five years ago. I've been looking for her ever since. She will be seventeen years old by now, and I lost her five years ago--yes, five years ago," she kept on repeating. "I've been looking for her ever since." "A strange name Balkis?" said Jarman, watching her. "My husband was in the East. It came from the East, that name. I'm a Billericay woman myself, and--" She giggled, then shook her head and withdrew swiftly. The two men looked at one another. "She's quite mad, and harmless," said Eustace. "Quite mad, and dangerous," replied Frank. "I don't trust her."