"My dear child," he expostulated insincerely, "what makes you say that?"
"You don't mean to pretend you didn't steal the bandbox from me, just
now, in that taxicab, trying to get the necklace?" she demanded.
He waited an instant, then shrugged. "I presume denial would be
useless."
"Quite."
"All right then: I won't deny anything."
She moved away from the telephone to a chair wherein she dropped as if
exhausted, hands knitted together in her lap, her chin resting on her
chest.
"You see," said the man, "I wanted to spare you the knowledge that you
were being held up by your fond parent."
"I should have known you," she said, "but for that disguise--the beard
and motor-coat."
"That just goes to show that filial affection will out," commented the
man. "You haven't seen me for seven years--"
"Except on the steamer," she corrected.
"True, but there I kept considerately out of your way."
"Considerately!" she echoed in a bitter tone.
"Can you question it?" he asked, lightly ironic, moving noiselessly to
and fro while appraising the contents of the room with swift, searching
glances.
"As, for instance, your actions tonight...."
"They simply prove my contention, dear child." He paused, gazing down at
her with a quizzical leer. "My very presence here affirms my entire
devotion to your welfare."
She looked up, dumfounded by his effrontery. "Is it worth while to waste
your time so?" she enquired. "You failed the first time tonight, but you
can't fail now; I'm alone, I can't oppose you, and you know I won't
raise an alarm. Why not stop talking, take what you want and go? And
leave me to be accused of theft unless I choose to tell the world--what
it wouldn't believe--that my own father stole the necklace from me!"
"Ah, but how unjust you are!" exclaimed the man. "How little you know
me, how little you appreciate a father's affection!"
"And you tried to rob me not two hours ago!"
"Yes," he said cheerfully: "I admit it. If I had got away with it
then--well and good. You need never have known who it was. Unhappily for
both of us, you fooled me."
"For both of us?" she repeated blankly.
"Precisely. It puts you in a most serious position. That's why I'm
here--to save you."