It was not the hour that visitors usually called, unless they were invited to dinner, and, as Martha Ann can testify, the dinner that night was of significant frugality. Mrs. Yale, dining alone (and it was tantamount to dining alone when she had no other companion at the table but her stepdaughter), was an exponent of the simple life. Martha Ann ushered the visitor into the drawing-room, then flew to find Mrs. Yale, to warn her that three chops and a pint of dessicated soup was very poor preparation for a dinner-party, if it were to include Mr. de Costa. Yvonne was dressing, but came down within a few minutes of his arrival. The old man rose and favoured her with a bow as she came in. “I have called for your answer, Miss Yale,” said De Costa. “I have no answer to give you now, that I was not prepared to give you yesterday,” said the girl, quietly. “I could not, even if I knew, put you in possession of the information you require.” De Costa shrugged his shoulders. “It means such a lot to you,” he said, “and to your mother. I am sure she would persuade you----” “My mother could not persuade me to do anything I thought was dishonourable and unworthy,” she replied, with a note of hauteur in her voice. “You know the consequences?” asked the old man. “I know what you threaten,” said the girl, steadily. “That you will have Captain Talham arrested, and that you will subpœna me, and force me to tell you what was inscribed on the bracelet.” The old man nodded. “Yes,” he said, “that is my intention. You can save your friend a lot of trouble, and save me a great deal of inconvenience, by telling me all you know.” She was silent. “By hook or by crook, I am going to learn what you have to tell,” said De Costa savagely. “This man has done me a grievous wrong, and I intend repaying myself for all the inconvenience to which he has put me, and for all the money which I have lost as a result of his act of theft. The bracelet was not yours; it is not his.” “There is no Court of Law in England that would force me to say what I did not wish to say,” she said firmly. “Legally--however unfortunate it was your son should have given it to me--it was mine. It is now out of my hands. I cannot tell you anything about it without Captain Talham’s permission.” De Costa shrugged. “Your refusal to answer will be accepted as an answer unfavourable to the prisoner. If you lie, the judges and the jury will know.” “Have no fear,” she said haughtily. “I shall not say anything which is not true.” It was at that tense moment that Mrs. Yale came in. She boasted her ability to take in a situation at a glance. Now she sought to justify that boast. “Ah!” she said pleasantly, with a genial smile which comprehended both the old man and her stepdaughter. “I see you have succeeded in persuading my obstinate daughter.”