A Sword For the Baron Read Online Free Page B

the wealthiest private individuals in the country. By going to Somerset House you can see how much he inherited, and by studying the increase in land values in London in the past twenty years, you will be able to judge how much the value of his London estates is today. Don’t try to tell me, and above all don’t try to tell anyone else outside this room that your uncle isn’t financially sound. Don’t even suggest that he stole the Sword, or stole anything at all. Because if you do suggest that and it’s spread around, you’ll be guilty of serious slander.” When the girl didn’t respond, Mannering went on flatly: “And if the slander was spread around, your uncle would have to challenge you. You would have to withdraw the charges, or you might find yourself in court. Do you understand that?”
    All the time she had been listening, she had watched his eyes. He still felt sure she was frightened by the recital of her uncle’s story, and he doubted whether she took in what he had been saying. She was at once so old and so young; so full of vitality and yet so still.
    â€œYes,” she said at last. “I understand. You mean that you—you won’t tell him what I’ve said.”
    â€œI will not.”
    â€œThank you, Mr Mannering. I’m afraid I let my tongue run away with me. I feel it so strongly, you see.” She stood up, quite slowly. “I think he did steal the other sword, and I think he is in serious financial difficulties. If he isn’t, why should he steal—” she broke off.
    â€œSara,” said Mannering, “where have you been living for the past few years?”
    â€œI beg your pardon?”
    â€œWhere have you been?”
    â€œIn London, part of the time. In France, in Switzerland – what makes you ask?”
    â€œYou sound rather as if you’ve been living in a convent.”
    That startled her into unexpected laughter. With her head thrown back and her mouth open and those red lips, it seemed to be a ridiculous thing for Mannering to have said; it might help her to see what he meant.
    â€œI assure you I have not! I’ve been with friends – what my uncle calls living the life of a licentious butterfly. He seems to think that if you are young, you must be emotionally disturbed and sexually abnormal, and that only the old can be good or wise.” When Mannering didn’t respond, she went on: “I suppose I’ve been doing what you might call the modern version of huntin’, shootin’, and fishin’. I’ve been flyin’, drivin’, and ski-in’.” There was an edge of defiance in her manner.
    â€œWith the smart set?”
    â€œWith a set which is called smart by the gossip columnists. But you must know this – you do read the newspapers, don’t you?”
    â€œI don’t believe all I read in them,” said Mannering drily. “You don’t seem to have any knowledge at all of comparative values, in spite of all this. Your uncle inherited a fortune of four million pounds which is probably worth twenty million today. The value of the Mogul Swords of Victory might possibly be a hundred thousand pounds – a lot of the stones are very small, and there are many semi-precious stones among them. Perhaps a hundred thousand, then if the pair were offered together, you would have a little over twice as much as for one by itself. The money for one of the swords can’t be of vital importance to a man whose fortune runs into millions.”
    Her eyes were very clear.
    â€œA penny matters to a miser,” she said. “That sword belongs to the family, not to him.”
    â€œCan you prove that, legally?”
    â€œOh, legally. I think he pretended it had been stolen, and sold it. He certainly had no moral right to.” Sara Gentian moved quickly towards the door, as if determined to reach it before Mannering. At the door she turned and looked