“I wanted to see Mr. Sabin,” she began. “Can you tell me when he will be back?”
“He has gone to London,” Helène replied. “He will not be returning here at all.”
The girl’s surprise was evidently genuine.
“But he said nothing about it a few hours ago,” she exclaimed. “You are in his confidence, I know. This morning he gave me something to do. I was to get Mr. Blatherwick away from the Hall, and keep him with me as long as I could. You do not know Mr. Blatherwick? then you cannot sympathise with me. Since ten o’clock I have been with him. At last I could keep him no longer. He has gone back to the Hall.”
“Mr. Sabin will probably write to you,” Helène said. “This house is taken for another fortnight, and you can of course remain here, if you choose. You will certainly hear from him within the next day or two.”
Miss Merton shrugged her shoulders.
“Well, I shall take a holiday,” she declared. “I’ve finished typing all the copy I had. Haven’t you dropped something there?”
She stooped suddenly forward, and picked up a locket from the floor.
“Is this yours?” she asked. “Why——”