Mr. David Sheldrake was a cool calculating rogue, and was by no means of a sufficiently romantic or daring turn to plan and to carry out an abduction. If Lily had decided not to accompany him, he would, with an ill grace, have abided by her decision. The qualities of his mind were pretty evenly balanced, and he had no intention of placing himself in danger. What Lily did she did deliberately, and with her own free-will, and every move in the little game that he had played was testimony in his favour. Lily had come to him, had made it appear, by asking the landlady of the True Blue for the use of her parlour, that it was she who desired to confer privately with him, had smiled when she left the public house, and had voluntarily entered the cab which was conveying them along the Epsom road. He could prove that he had been a friend to her brother, and, according to the logic of figures, a heavy loser by him; he could prove that he had been on intimate terms with Lily, and that she had accepted favours from him. So far all was well. But, going a point farther, Mr. Sheldrake, carefully considering the position as the cab drove along, was puzzled. He had not definitely settled upon the next step. He had, in a vague manner, decided that to bring the brother and sister together--to make Lily clearly understand the desperate position in which Alfred was placed--and then to say to her, "And I am the only man that can save your brother"--would be a fine thing for him. Setting aside the dramatic effect of the situation (Mr. Sheldrake, having an eye for dramatic effect, had thought of that), it would undoubtedly place him in a good light. But then, on what terms would he consent to save her brother? It was at this point he paused, and said to himself that he must consider seriously what was the best thing he could do; and while he was considering he heard Lily's voice calling to him. He bade the driver stop, and he alighted and went to the cab-door.
"Have we much farther to go, Mr. Sheldrake?" she asked, in a weak imploring tone.
"No, not a great way."
"I thought we should have been in London before now; but the road is strange to me; I do not recognise it."
"It is the road to Epsom," he explained. "I told you, if you remember, that your brother could not come home."
"Yes; but I thought you meant he could not come from London; he went straight to his office from us this morning."
"No, he did not, Lily; he went to the Epsom races."
She uttered a sharp cry of pain.
"O, why could he not have confided in me? Why did he deceive us?"
"I supposed you knew," said Mr. Sheldrake gently; "I had no reason for supposing otherwise."