tired.--Give me some tea, will you?" He paused before her while she poured
the cup, and then, without taking it, turned away to light a cigarette.

"Surely there is still time?" she suggested, with her eyes on him.

"Time? To finish my plans? Oh, yes--there's time. But they're not worth
it."

"Not worth it?" She started up, and then dropped back into her seat,
ashamed of having betrayed her anxiety. "They are worth as much as they
were last week," she said with an attempt at cheerfulness.

"Not to me," he returned. "I hadn't seen Darrow's then."

There was a long silence. Mrs. Peyton sat with her eyes fixed on her
clasped hands, and her son paced the room restlessly.

"Are they so wonderful?" she asked at length.

"Yes."

She paused again, and then said, lifting a tremulous glance to his face:
"That makes his offer all the more beautiful."

Dick was lighting another cigarette, and his face was turned from her.
"Yes--I suppose so," he said in a low tone.

"They were quite finished, he told me," she continued, unconsciously
dropping her voice to the pitch of his.