However, as it makes no difference what the late Mrs.Henley thinks, we will dismiss her from the case, and settle the affair quietly between ourselves.

I 've got a proposition which will interest you." He touched a button, and I heard the sharp tingle of a bell outside.

Almost instantly the door in the cabin opened.
"That you, Peters?
Conduct the woman back to her stateroom, lock the door, and bring me the key." He bent forward, searching for something in a pigeonhole to his right, and I caught her eyes, touching my lips with my fingers to signal silence, while an inclination of the head told her to go without resistance.

The swift change of expression on her face proved her instant comprehension, as, without uttering a word of protest, she turned, and disappeared.

Henley never glanced up from his work of selecting papers from a bundle under his hands, nor did I move, until after Peters returned with the key.