His hands rested on the smooth surface of the table
in the bar of light from the unseen lamp.
There was a second in which the seer was silent; then he
fancied that she raised her head.
"You must take off your rings," she said smoothly. "Any metal
interferes with the sympathetic current."
At any other time Loder would have laughed; but the request so
casually and graciously made sent all possibility of irony far
into the background. The thought of Chilcote and of the one
flaw in their otherwise flawless scheme rose to his mind.
Instinctively he half withdrew his hands.
"Where is the sympathetic current?" he asked, quietly. His
thoughts were busy with the question of whether he would or
would not be justified in beating an undignified retreat.
"Between you and me, of course," said the voice, softly. It
sounded languid, but very rational. The idea of retreat
seemed suddenly theatrical. In this world of low voices and
shaded lights people never adopted extreme measures--no
occasion made a scene practicable, or even allowable.
Pages:
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211