J. J. Bell

“ Is a woman supposed to have no sense of honor?” she asked sternly.
“Grant would understand and appreciate anything you did for Mrs. Lismore's sake.”
“Would he? Has he so great a regard for her? Oh, Mr. Stormont, why can you not be honest?”
“Honest? I have offered to confess, but you would not hear me. Tell me, is such dishonesty in seeking one's own? I have begged you to read those two strips of paper so that you might learn what my own amounted to—in figures written thereon by Rufus Cran. Read them now!” ”

“ We were threatened with destruction, extinction, so far as our business interests was concerned. As a lonely man, I dare say I felt it less than Lismore; yet—but that would not interest you. So there was destruction coming swiftly nearer, and there was salvation—our rightful shares in that hoard of platinum—where? Imagine the situation! Of Douglas Grant's whereabouts we were in sublime ignorance, and every hour brought the danger nearer!” Stormont's voice sank in its appeal. ”

“ Grant,” she said. “Of course,” she added, a faint hint of inquiry in her tone, “they are of no value as claims to the platinum without the third.”
“Quite right—just as the third without these is mere paper and ink.”
“You had better take care of them, Mr. Stormont,” she said carelessly. And then: “I suppose what you're after is for me to give you freedom to secure your share of the platinum at once—”
“It will cost Grant nothing.”
“And what about myself, Mr. Stormont?”
“And Mrs. Lismore?”
“Ah, yes. I am a selfish person. But—” A sound she had been longing for had reached her ears at last. ”