"What are you two up to?" he shouted. "You'll be late for lunch."
"All right, you go back and tell them to start without us!" cried Lord Henry. "Leonetta's lost her bangle."
Guy nodded, and continued on his way homeward with Mrs. Tribe.
"That's a nice thing!" Lord Henry observed.
"Of course, they'll think I've done it on purpose!" Leonetta rejoined, smiling roguishly.
Lord Henry smiled too. She certainly seemed to understand that her character was not incompatible with such a conclusion.
They walked on thus for about five minutes, and then suddenly Lord Henry espied the ornament lying in the mud.
"Oh, I'm so thankful to you, Lord Henry,—you've no idea!" she cried. "I should never have found it myself."
Lord Henry was facing the homeward path, and she had her back turned to it. With great care he removed the offending particles of mud from the recovered treasure, and then fastened it on her arm. At the same moment, at a bow-shot from him, he saw Denis approaching at a rapid pace through the wood. Evidently he was coming in the hope of finding the bangle, and behind him followed Vanessa and the Incandescent Gerald.
It seemed as if Fate itself had been active here, and had laid this unique opportunity in Lord Henry's hands. It was certainly too good to lose, and feeling perfectly certain that Denis could not know that his approach had been perceived, resolved immediately upon a drastic, but as he thought, conclusive measure.