Even now,
at the eleventh hour, the fraud might be prevented. She must get back
to the hotel at once; see Mrs Moffatt and reason with her, argue with
her, command her to hand over the jewels! The woman was not all bad,
and life had gone hardly with her. She should have another chance!
Cornelia waived aside all thought of responsibility toward the jeweller
himself, by the easy decision to pay for the necklace if necessary, but
a sudden feeling of helplessness weighed upon her at the prospect of the
interview ahead.

Suppose Mr Moffatt were at the hotel with his wife! Then there would
be two to one, and once the outer veneer was broken through, there was
no saying to what extremes of abuse, of threatening, even of violence
itself, they might descend. Cornelia recalled the two faces; the
woman's hard, sullen, coarse; the man's mean and crafty, and shuddered
at the prospect.

All at once the thought of Guest occurred, to bring with it a wave of
relief. Guest had begged her to summon him if at any time he should be
needed; now the need had arisen, and he should help her through.

She hastily selected a pearl bangle and laid it on one side on the
counter.

"I will decide on that! Let your man bring it round at five o'clock,
and ask to see me personally. He can bring a bill made out for all I
owe, and I'll settle at once. And, Mr Marchant, I want to use your
telephone! Can you ring and have me switched on to the Army and Navy
Club?"

While the preliminary operations were going on at the telephone,
Cornelia racked her brain to think of a suitable rendezvous, and failing
a better suggestion, decided on a tea-shop exactly across the road. To
her immense relief, Guest was found at his club, and announced that he
would be with her in ten minutes' time, so that there was nothing to do
but to dismiss the hansom, and secure a table in a quiet corner.

The time seemed long, but in reality it was less than ten minutes before
Guest seated himself by her side. He looked grave and stern;
preoccupied almost to the point of discourtesy, for the ordinary
greetings were exchanged for a succession of short, eager questions.

"Where have you been all the morning? Have you been back to the hotel?
Did you get my message?"

"I did not! I've been out since about half-past nine. What was the
message about? Anything important?"

"Tell me first what you wanted me for just now."

Cornelia paused for a moment and her lips tr