"Because he intends to sell it. Of course, the Maharajah is the only
person who can afford the luxury of such articles, and my husband wishes
me to conclude the bargain with the Prince."

"You, Mrs. Irwin? And why, pray, does he not do it himself?"

"Because the Maharajah will not pay him the price he demands. My husband
will not let the ring go under two lakhs."

"But that is a tremendous sum! That would be paying for it twelve times
over!"

"My husband is, all the same, certain that the bargain would come off
quite easily, provided I personally negotiated it."

It was impossible to misunderstand the meaning of these words, and so
great was the indignation they awoke in Heideck, that he sprang up in a
bound from his chair.

"No! that is impossible--it cannot be! He cannot possibly have suggested
that! You must have misunderstood him. No man, no officer, no gentleman,
could ever be guilty of such a low, mean action!"

"You would be less surprised if you had had the opportunity to know
him, as I have had, during the short time of our wedded life. There is
practically no act or deed of his that would surprise me now. He has
long since ceased to love me; and a wife, whose person has become
indifferent to him, has, in his eyes, only a marketable value. It may be
that some excuse can even be found for his way of regarding things. It