innocent-looking little brass inlaid knob, and the blue
velvet back fell forward, leaving a space behind.

From the day she had been shown this dear little
secret space, the key of the safe had lain there, excepting
on the very rare occasions when she was able
to take it out and use it. Of course she never did this
unless she knew that Manfred was to be away for
the whole day from Witanbury, and even then she
trembled and shook with fright lest he should suddenly
come in and surprise her. But what she had learnt
made her tremors worth while.

It was pleasant, indeed, to know that a lot of money --
nice golden sovereigns and crisp five-pound notes --
was lying there, and that Manfred must be always
adding to the store. Last time she had looked into
the safe there was eight hundred pounds! Two-thirds
in gold, one-third in five-pound notes. She had sometimes
thought it odd that Manfred kept such a lot of
gold, but that was his business, not hers.

It was very unkind of him not to have told her
of all this money. After all, she helped to earn it!
But she knew he believed her to be extravagant.

What sillies men were! As if the fact that he had
this money put away, no doubt accumulating in order
that they might pay off the mortgage quicker, would
make her spend more. Why, it had actually had the
effect of making her more careful.

In addition to the money in the safe, there were
one or two deeds connected with little bits of house
property Manfred had acquired in Witanbury during
the last six years. And then, on the top shelf of the
safe, there were a lot of letters -- letters written in
German, of which of course she could make neither

[[135]]

p134 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p135w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p136

v?