"After tea," said Jimmy with a grin, "the Countess asked Bill to show her round the interesting old place."
"Well, I couldn't refuse, could I?" said Bill, his countenance assuming a brick-red tint.
Bundle felt faintly uneasy. She knew, only too well, the susceptibility of Mr. William Eversleigh to female charms. In the hands of a woman like the Countess, Bill would be as wax. She wondered once more whether Jimmy Thesiger had been wise to take Bill into their confidence.
"The Countess," said Bill, "is a very charming woman. And no end intelligent. You should have seen her going round the house. All sorts of questions she asked."
"What kind of questions?" asked Bundle suddenly.
Bill was vague.
"Oh! I don't know. About the history of it. And old furniture. And—oh! all sorts of things."
At that moment the Countess swept into the room. She seemed a shade breathless. She was looking magnificent in a close-fitting black velvet gown. Bundle noticed how Bill gravitated at once into her immediate neighbourhood. The serious, spectacled young man joined him.
"Bill and Pongo have both got it badly," observed Jimmy Thesiger with a laugh.
Bundle was by no means so sure that it was a laughing matter.