"My darling," I said, "don't let's make the worst of a bad business. The going's heavy, I know, but it's idle to curse the jumps before we've seen them. Piers didn't send that wire himself. That goes without saying. He probably never worded it. I know that's as broad as it's long, but, when you come to think, there's really no reason on earth why it should be anything more than a broken leg."
There was a dubious silence.
At length—
"Boy's perfectly right," said Berry. "Jill's scared stiff—naturally. As for us, we're rattled—without good reason at all. For all we know…."
He broke off to listen…. The front door closed with a crash.
"Jonah," said I. "He's had my note, and——"
It was not Jonah.
It was Piers, Duke of Padua, who burst into the room, looking extraordinarily healthy and very much out of breath.
We stared at him, speechless.
For a moment he stood smiling. Then he swept Daphne a bow.