"Nine hundred and sixty-five pounds! Fancy it!"
The wave approached him again as she named the sum. Nevertheless, he never once outwardly blenched. As he had definitely put away unrighteousness, so his face showed no sign of guilt. Like many ingenuous-minded persons, he had in a high degree the faculty of appearing innocent--except when he really was innocent.
"If you ask me," said Rachel, "she never took any of the notes upstairs at all; she left them all somewhere downstairs and only took the serviette upstairs."
"Yes," he agreed thoughtfully, wondering whether on the other hand, Mrs. Maldon had not taken all the notes upstairs, and left none of them downstairs. Was it possible that in that small roll, in that crushed ball that he had dropped into the grate, there was nearly a thousand pounds--the equivalent of an income of a pound a week for ever and ever?... Never mind! The incident, so far as he was concerned, was closed. The dogma of his future life would be that the bank-notes had never existed.
"And I've looked _ev_'rywhere!" Rachel insisted with strong emphasis.
Louis remarked, thoughtfully, as though a new aspect of the affair was presenting itself to him--
"I should just say it was--as much money as that!"
"I mean," said Louis, "for everybody. That is to say, Julian and me. We're involved."
"How can you be involved? You didn't even know it was in the house."
"No. But the old lady might have dropped it. I might have picked it up. Julian might have picked it up. Who's to prove--"
He smiled with momentary constraint. He said to himself--
"It won't do to talk to this kind of girl like that. She won't stand it.... Why, she wouldn't even _dream_ of suspicion falling on herself--wouldn't dream of it."
"Well--" and made a gesture to imply that the enigma baffled him.
"I give it up!" breathed Rachel intimately. "I fairly give it up!"
"And of course that was the cause of her attack?" he said suddenly, as if the idea had just occurred to him.
"Well," said he, "I'll look in again during the afternoon. I must be getting along for my grub." He was hoping that he had not unintentionally brought about his aunt's death.
"Not had your dinner!" she cried. "Why! It's after half-past two!"