CHAPTER XVI AT THE ROOKERY TEA ROOM
The tea room was conveniently deserted. Jane smiled gratefully at the plate of doughnuts and the pot of tea, but Mrs. Corday would not be tempted. Gloria could not decide whether the woman was imagining the queer story of a hidden treasure, or whether she might have some reasonable basis for her continued declaration.
“You see, dear,” she kept insisting, “Mr. Corday had a bad man in his troupe.” (The word troupe surprised Gloria.) “And there was a big diamond from India that this Turk, we called him, knew all about. It was while the wagons were passing from one place to another that the Turk tried to get the gem box. Many a time I saw it, but Philip never let it leave his own care.” She sighed and looked off, past the fanciful decorations, hand-made
