"It will take a month," he replied.

"Mr. Robinson will let you have what you want at present," added
Sophonisba. Now I certainly had said so, and had meant it at the
time. But my whole travelling store did not exceed forty or fifty
pounds, with which I was going on to Venice, and then back to England
through the Tyrol. Waiting a month for Mr. Greene's money from
England might be even more inconvenient to me than to him. Then it
occurred to me that the wants of the Greene family would be numerous
and expensive, and that my small stock would go but a little way among
so many. And what also if there had been no money and no jewels in
that accursed box! I confess that at the moment such an idea did
strike my mind. One hears of sharpers on every side committing
depredations by means of most singular intrigues and contrivances.
Might it not be possible that the whole batch of Greenes belonged to
this order of society. It was a base idea, I own; but I confess that
I entertained it for a moment.

I retired to my own room for a while that I might think over all the
circumstances. There certainly had been seven boxes, and one had had
a hole in the canvas. All the seven had certainly been on board the
steamer. To so much I felt that I might safely swear. I had not
counted the seven into the small boat, but on leaving the larger
vessel I had looked about the deck to see that none of the Greene
trappings were forgotten. If left on the steamer, it had been so left
through an intent on the part of some one there employed. It was
quite possible that the contents of the box had been ascertained
through the imprudence of Mrs. Greene, and that it had been conveyed
away so that it might be rifled at Como. As to Mrs. Greene's
assertion that all the boxes had been put into the small boat, I