"It means that you'll get no information out of me concerning a certain person who happens to be my husband, if you were to give me all the money you have. Now we'll drop the subject, if you please; time is passing. You don't want to have all Avonham interrupting our tête-à-tête. What's going to happen to this bag? It's his bag. As you pretend to have some sort of feeling about him, and I know he is an old friend of yours, why don't you go back upstairs to bed, and keep from interfering in what, after all, is no concern of yours? I give you my personal assurance that there isn't so much as a ha'p'orth of anything in that bag that belongs to you. For his sake what you don't want is a fuss; he'll never forget the debt he owes you if you keep from making one; you may be the death of him if you do; let me give you my arm to help you up the stairs." "Let me invert the proposition--you go upstairs, and leave me here." "And take the bag with me?" "Empty." "What will you do with what's inside?" "The entire contents will be returned to the Countess of Cantyre." "And if the Countess of Cantyre asks questions?" "What is that that someone says about the Countess of Cantyre asking questions?" The inquiry came from the staircase just above them. Before either of them could move, or speak, a small figure came running into the hall. It was the Countess of Cantyre herself. "Violet!" she exclaimed, "what on earth are you doing here? And--who are you?" The last inquiry was addressed to the woman; but, without waiting for an answer, her ladyship continued: "Do you know, Violet, I couldn't sleep; I haven't had one single wink of sleep, and at last I couldn't stay in bed any longer, I had to come to you. I had a feeling that you mightn't be getting much sleep either; but I didn't expect to find your bed empty, especially considering the state that your foot was in when I saw you last. I prowled about to see what had become of you, and then I heard voices down here, and perhaps now, Violet, you will tell me what this new and most extraordinary behaviour of yours may mean, and who is this woman?" "This woman," Miss Forster replied, "is the person who calls herself Jane Simmons." "And pray what may Jane Simmons be doing here, at this hour of the morning, with you?" "If you please, my lady," replied Jane Simmons, "I heard Miss Forster in the hall, and knowing that she had hurt her foot, I came down to see if I could be of any use to her." Nothing could have been more becoming to a person of her station than her manner of saying this. Her ladyship eyed her askance. "Is that so? Well, Violet, has she been of any use to you?" "None whatever." "Then, Jane Simmons, I should think that you could go."