'I always sign my cheques in Greek,' he observed 'It is not so easy to

imitate.' He rose and held out his hand.

'I suppose I ought to thank you on Margaret's behalf,' said Mrs.

Rushmore, as she took it. 'She will be so sorry not to have seen you.' 'It was much easier to do business without her. And as for that, there

is no reason for telling her anything about the transaction. You need

only say that a syndicate has bought out Alvah Moon and has compromised

the old suit by a cash payment. I am not at all anxious to have her

know that I have had a hand in the matter--in fact, I had rather that

she shouldn't, if you don't object.' Mrs. Rushmore looked hard at him. She had not even thought of refusing

his offer, which would save Margaret a considerable fortune by a stroke

of a pen; but she had taken it for granted that what might easily be

made to pass for an act of magnificent liberality was intended to

produce a profound impression on Margaret's feelings. The elder woman

was shrewd enough to guess that the Greek would not lose money in the

end, but she went much too far in suspecting him of anything so vulgar

as playing on the girl's gratitude. She looked at him keenly.

'Do you mean that?' she asked, almost incredulously.

His quiet almond eyes gazed into hers with the trustful simplicity of a

child's.

'Yes,' he answered. 'This is purely a matter of business, in which I am

consulting nothing but my own interests. I should have acted precisely

in the same way if I had never had the pleasure of knowing either of

you. If it chances that I have been of service to Miss Donne, so much

the better, but there is no reason why she should ever know it, so far

as I am concerned. I would rather she should not. She might fancy that

I had acted from other motives.' 'Very well,' Mrs. Rushmore answered; 'then I shall not tell her.' Nevertheless, when the motor car had tooted and puffed itself away to

Paris and Mrs. Rushmore still sat in her straight-backed garden chair

holding the cheque in her hand, she thought it all very strange and

unaccountable; and the only explanation that occurred to her was that

the invention must be worth far more than she had supposed. This was

not altogether a pleasant reflection either, as it made her inclined to

reproach herself for not having driven a hard bargain with Logotheti.




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