cried together.

"Oh, Ivor, Ivor!" she panted, between her sobs and hysterical gusts of
laughter. "The agony of it--the agony--and the joy now! You're
wonderful. Good, precious Ivor--dear friend--saint."

At this I laughed too, partly to calm her, and patted gently the hands
with which she had nervously clutched my sleeve.

"Heaven knows I don't deserve one of those epithets," I said, "I'll just
stick to friend."

"Not deserve them?" she repeated. "Not deserve them, when you've saved
me--I don't yet understand how--from a horror worse than death--oh, but
a thousand times worse, for I wanted to die. I meant to die. If they had
found it, I shouldn't have lived to see to-morrow morning. Tell me--how
did you work such a miracle? How did you get this necklace, that meant
so much to me (and to one I love), and how did you hide the--other
thing?"

"I don't know anything about this necklace," I answered, stupidly, "I
didn't bring it."

"You--_didn't bring it_?"

"No. At least, that red leather thing isn't the case I carried. When the
fellow pulled it out from the sofa, I saw it wasn't what I'd had, so I
thanked our lucky stars, and would have tried to let you know that all
hope wasn't over, if I'd dared to catch your eye or make a signal."

Maxine was suddenly calm. The tears had dried on her cheeks, and her
eyes were fever-bright.

"Ivor, you can't know what you are talking about," she said, in a
changed voice. "That red leather case is what you took out of your
breast pocket and handed to me when I first came into the room. At the
sound of the knock, I pushed it down as far as I could between the seat
and back of the sofa, and then ran off to a distance before the door
opened. You _did_ bring the necklace, knowingly or not; and as it was
the cause of all my trouble in the beginning, I needn't tell you of the
joy I had in seeing it, apart from the heavenly relief of being spared
discovery of the thing I feared. Now, when you've given me the other
packet, which you hid so marvellously, I can go away happy."

I stared at her, feeling more than ever like one in a dream.

"I gave you the only thing I brought," I said. "It was in my breast
pocket, inside my coat. I took it out, and put it in your hands. There
was no other thing. Look again in the sofa. It must be there still. This
red case is something else--we can try to account for it later. It all
came through the lights not working. If it hadn't been dusk you woul