"Are you afraid of eavesdroppers, citizen Roget?" queried Chauvelin with a shrug of his narrow shoulders.
"No. There is no one there. Only a lout from Chelwood who brought me here. The people of the house are safe enough. They have plenty of secrets of their own to keep."
He was obviously saying all this in order to reassure himself, for there was no doubt that his fears were on the alert. With a febrile gesture he unfastened the shutters, and pushed them open, peering out into the night.
"Hallo!" he called.
But he received no answer.
"It has started to rain," he said more calmly. "I imagine that lout has found shelter in an outhouse with the horses."
"Very likely," commented Chauvelin laconically.
"Then if you have nothing more to tell me," quoth Martin-Roget, "I may as well think about getting back. Rain or no rain, I want to be in Bath before midnight."
"Ball or supper-party at one of your duchesses?" queried the other with a sneer. "I know them."
To this Martin-Roget vouchsafed no reply.