"Nothing more was to be got out of him, however. Instinct whispers to me that the child suspects a certain young woman of having received the jewels. (Why, such a thing is almost like being a _receiver of stolen goods_, since surely they're the property of Marise. Not that she _wants_ or would look at them again!) She did not _tell_ me this. It is my own heart--the heart of a _mother_--which speaks. All she said was, that Garth wouldn't mention the name of the receiver, and resented her 'catechising' him. He put the matter like this: If _she'd_ given _him_ wedding presents, and he practically trampled them under foot, with scorn, wouldn't she consider herself free to do what she liked with the objects? Wouldn't she wish to get rid of them and never see them again? Wouldn't her first thought be to give them away? And how would she feel if _he_ wanted to know what she'd done with the things? "To the three first questions, Marise found herself obliged to answer '_Yes_.' (She has an almost _abnormal_ sense of justice for a woman, you know!) To the fourth, she replied in an equally self-sacrificing way, so in the end the man triumphed. But it was this business of the wedding presents which (as I've explained to you now) he deliberately _took back_ (we Americans call this being an 'Indian giver'!) that has made Marise think he's in love with someone. "I may have guessed the person in her mind; but, as you will feel no interest in _that_ side of the subject, I'll not bore you by dwelling on it at present. The interest for _you_ in Garth's being in love with a woman who is _not_ our Marise (no matter who!) is _obvious_. If the child is right in her conjectures, she is also right, no doubt, in asserting that she need have no fear the man will lose his head. "In reading over what I have just written, I see that I may have given you a wrong impression. It sounds as if I had resigned myself to see Marise go off to live alone with Garth in his house by the abyss. Which is not the case, of course. I shall be with her. That is, I shall be most of the time--the best bargain I can drive! Except that, naturally, Céline will _always_ be with her. And if Garth is a Demon, Céline can be a dragon. She has learned this art from _Me_. She is absolutely faithful, and devoted to _your_ interests. In order to make sure of her services when needed in any possible emergency, I have more or less confided in her, which I think was wise. "Now, before I write further, I will set your mind at rest as far as _possible_.