I should then have been in a better position to do what I
want to do."
"Oh! You had some definite plan which hinged upon your finding
them?"
He was silent for a space, as if considering within himself just how
far he could admit me into his confidence.
"At first, it was a matter of family pride with me to clear up this
mystery. Later--I wanted to have the Hynds jewels in my possession,
that I might ask the woman I love to marry me." His voice vibrated
like a violin string.
I took the blow standing. I did not wince, though it had come
unexpectedly. Of course I had known all along that there must be
some lady whom he loved, a woman of that world to which he himself
belonged. But I couldn't for the life of me imagine how the finding
or the not finding of the Hynds jewels could have any bearing upon
the case. I couldn't understand how any woman, any real woman, could
let such a thing come between her and Nicholas Jelnik.
When we had walked a little farther: "Doesn't she know you care for
her?"
"Who knows what any woman knows or thinks? She may really care for
another man."
"There is another man?"
"There is always another man.
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