‘Mr Melford,’ said Collis, as the millionaire turned back to the curtains of his box.

‘Yes?’

‘The day will come, Mr Melford, when you recognise me, as the aged mother recognised the Highland hero. You will squeeze my nose and say, “My God, it’s you.”’

Laurence Melford stared at Collis with glittering eyes. For some reason, Collis’s words seemed to have troubled him.

‘I was a hero once, Mr Edwards,’ he said, in his deep, thick voice. ‘I still am.’

‘Yes,’ said Collis, ‘but you know what Emerson says — “Every hero becomes a bore at last.”’

Laurence Melford frowned, and then gradually smiled. ‘Maybe you’re right, Mr Edwards. Maybe you’re right. But if you’re a hero, too, then the same fate will be waiting for you.’

The curtains suddenly parted, and Laurence Melford had to step back. It was Sarah, wide-eyed and surprised, her fan in her hand. ‘Father?’ she said. ‘I was wondering why you were taking so long.’

Close to, Sarah Melford was even more disturbing than she was seventy feet away through opera glasses. There was a warmth about her, a heat as if her body and her personality were glowing with pride at all their attributes — their calm, and their beauty, and their composure. Collis saw that her eyes were very dark, but flecked with pale blue, and that there was a round mole on the side of her left breast, just before it disappeared into her cleavage. Her diamond necklace, in the shape of a wide five-pointed star, must have cost fifty or sixty-thousand dollars.

Laurence Melford reached across and took his daughter’s arm, consciously or unconsciously preventing her from stepping any nearer to Collis.

‘We were having a brief philosophical discussion, my darling,’ he told her. ‘It’s over now, and I’m coming back to join you.’

Sarah raised her head. She kept her eyes on Collis, as if he were an interesting sort of dog that had strayed into her parlour.

‘Aren’t you going to introduce me?’ she asked her father. ‘The poor fellow looks quite amusing.’

‘There’s no need for that,’ said Laurence Melford. His soft mouth remained in a smile, although he glanced at Collis with eyes that warned, ‘Keep off — don’t ever think that this is for you.’

Collis, partly to needle Melford and partly because Sarah tantalised him so much, gave a polite bow from the waist. ‘Collis Edmonds, Miss Melford, freshly arrived from New York. The man who shot a dealer’s hat at the Eagle Saloon last night.’

Sarah smiled. ‘I’ve heard all about you! Now, isn’t that strange! I heard Dezzie talking about you this morning, with the coachman. Dezzie’s my maid, Desdemona. It seems you must be quite famous, Mr Edmonds! Fancy that!’

‘We must be getting back, Sarah,’ insisted Laurence Melford. ‘I can hear that Mr Mulgrave has begun.’