This had all the effect I had hoped, and she nodded understandingly. "And what do you wish me to do?" she asked after another pause.
"To allow matters to remain as they are until we can get Nessa away; but it is entirely for you to decide."
She shook her head. "I—I can't decide now. I must have time to think. I was never so perplexed or astounded in my life."
"Rosa dear!" appealed Nessa.
"It is not for us to settle, Nessa," I put in; and then another long silence followed.
"If I wait till to-morrow, say, will you use the time to escape, Mr. Lancaster?" asked Rosa then.
"That is impossible, Miss von Rebling," I replied uncompromisingly. "I have come to get Nessa away, and that cannot be done in the time."
That drew a smile: the first since she had arrived. She guessed how the land lay with me, and glanced round at Nessa, who coloured slightly. I believe that that little blush had more effect than anything else. She had the usual streak of German romance in her disposition, and the situation appealed to it strongly.
"I wish I dared," she murmured; and I began to hope.
I gave the new idea a minute to germinate, and then began to nurture it by suggesting how her risk would be minimized. "Let me tell you just what is in my mind. I will not remain in the house, and the first thing to-morrow will go to rooms or an hotel."