The steam was lifting the lid of the small saucepan, which stood securely on the spirit-lamp between the marble knight’s greaved shins.  But Lady Maud took no notice of it.

‘It’s like you,’ said she.  ‘I cannot find anything else to say!’

‘It doesn’t matter about saying anything,’ returned Mr. Van Torp.  ’The water’s boiling.’

‘Will you blow out the lamp?’ As she spoke she dropped a battered silver tea-ball into the water, and moved it about by its little chain.

Mr. Van Torp took off his hat, and bent down sideways till his flat cheek rested on the knight’s stone shin, and he blew out the flame with one well-aimed puff.  Lady Maud did not look at the top of his head, nor steal a furtive glance at the strong muscles and sinews of his solid neck.  She did nothing of the kind.  She bobbed the tea-ball up and down in the saucepan by its chain, and watched how the hot water turned brown.

‘But I did not give you a “business acknowledgment,” as you call it,’ she said thoughtfully.  ’It’s not quite truthful to say I did, you know.’

‘Does that bother you?  All right.’

He produced his well-worn pocket-book, found a scrap of white paper amongst the contents, and laid it on the leather.  Then he took his pencil and wrote a few words.

‘Received of R. Van Torp L4100 to balance of account.’

He held out the pencil, and laid the pocket-book on his palm for her to write.  She read the words with out moving.

‘"To balance of account”—­what does that mean?’

’It means that it’s a business transaction.  At the time you couldn’t make any further claim against me.  That’s all it means.’

He put the pencil to the paper again, and wrote the date of the meeting in Hare Court.

’There!  If you sign your name to that, it just means that you had no further claim against me on that day.  You hadn’t, anyway, so you may just as well sign!’

He held out the paper, and Lady Maud took it with a smile and wrote her signature.

‘Thank you,’ said Mr. Van Torp.  ’Now you’re quite comfortable, I suppose, for you can’t deny that you have given me the usual business acknowledgment.  The other part of it is that I don’t care to keep that kind of receipt long, so I just strike a match and burn it.’  He did so, and watched the flimsy scrap turn black on the stone knight’s knee, till the gentle breeze blew the ashes away.  ‘So there!’ he concluded.  ’If you were called upon to swear in evidence that you signed a proper receipt for the money, you couldn’t deny it, could you?  A receipt’s good if given at any time after the money has been paid.  What’s the matter?  Why do you look as if you doubted it?  What is truth, anyhow?  It’s the agreement of the facts with the statement of them, isn’t it?  Well, I don’t see but the statement coincides with the facts all right now.’

While he had been talking Lady Maud had poured out the tea, and had cut some thin slices from the lemon, glancing at him incredulously now and then, but smiling in spite of herself.