"I hope that frightened her."
"It did, sir. She was almost out of her wits and promised to tell me everything this afternoon. I was to call at five o'clock."
"Where did you go next?" he shot in abruptly.
"To the von Reblings."
"To tell Miss Caldicott about these, I suppose?" holding up the tickets.
"Yes. I knew she would be very anxious."
He put the pinned set of tickets, etc., into the portfolio, under a couple of papers, and leant back, with his fingers interlocked, and stared at me with frowning intentness. "You're not a fool, my boy, and you must see that your zeal on that young lady's account is likely to rouse a lot of suspicion. What do the von Reblings say about it?"
"They are extremely anxious that she should be allowed to go home."
"Umph!" a grunt and a nod, both of which were repeated. "And where did you go next after leaving them?"
I started and hesitated.