The late editions of the evening papers, which presumably carried the first news of the robbery, were not taken in by the Pallisers; and Heberdon was therefore obliged to possess his soul in patience until the next morning. He passed a wretchedly excited and uneasy afternoon and night. It was hard to be parted from the money just after he had snatched it, and without even knowing the amount.
Thoughts of the loot and of Cora were all mixed up in his mind. He felt an intolerable desire for both. Not that the money was not safe with Blighton; even the suspicious Heberdon could not doubt old John’s squareness. But he felt the need of it like food. If it had only been in the room with him he could have slept, he told himself.
As to Cora, the case was worse; that evening of all evenings he oug
