Miss Cameron is only four days old, you see."
He bowed very low and said: "My proudest boast is that I have known
her since the day she was born. If I had the tongue and the courage of
O'Dowd I might add a great deal to that statement."
"A great deal that you would not say to a countess?" she asked,
playing with fire.
"A great deal that a child four days old could hardly be expected to
grasp, Miss Cameron," he replied, pointedly. "Having lived to a great
age myself, and acquired wisdom, I appreciate the futility of uttering
profound truths to an infant in arms."
She beamed. "O'Dowd could not have done any better than that," she
cried. Then quickly, even nervously, as he was about to speak again:
"Now, tell me all that Mr. O'Dowd had to say."
He seated himself and repeated the Irishman's warning. Her eyes
clouded as he went on; utter dejection came into them.
"He is right. It would be difficult for me to clear myself. My own
people would be against me. No one would believe that I did not
deliberately make off with the jewels. They would say that I--oh, it
is too dreadful!"
"Don't worry about that," he exclaimed. "You have me to testify that--"
"How little you know of intrigue," she cried.
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