Her frank and cynical speech disconcerted him. He had no reply. She
broke into a sneering laugh.
"There," she said, "you didn't come here to talk about that seance.
What did you come for?"
"I came to ask you if you still have Aunt Hannah's desk."
She regarded him keenly.
"The little traveling desk?"
"Yes."
"What if I have?"
"But have you?"
"Oh, I don't mind telling you that. I don't see that it can do you any
good to know that I have it. I always carry it round with me. It's so
convenient."
"Will you sell it to me?"
"Certainly not. If you didn't want it, I might give it to you; but if
you do you can't have it."
Maurice began to feel his anger rising. He felt helpless before this
woman, with her innocent, baby face, this woman with the guileless look
of a child and a child's freedom from moral scruples, who faced him
with a smile of pleased malice. It might be unwise to tell his real
errand, but she surely could not do any harm greater than to be
disagreeable. There must be some method, he reflected, of getting at
the thing legally; but what it was he was entirely ignorant; and now
that he had shown a desire for the desk he was confident that Mrs.
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