Mr. Johnson was thoughtful for a moment or two.
“Well,” he observed, “it is perhaps opportune.”
“What do you mean by that?” she demanded, nervously clasping and unclasping her fingers.
He laid his hand upon hers soothingly.
“You are distressing yourself needlessly, Madame,” he said. “I only mean that her visit will make it unnecessary for us to communicate with her. She will be able to tell us whether the papers were of great value.”
There was another silence.
“I think I can solve that problem,” Madame declared. “They are of no value at all. The coffer contained a collection of Chinese manuscripts, some of which my brother had already translated, and a few others which he had not examined.”
“Is that so?” Mr. Johnson observed. “Seems queer, doesn’t it, if that was all, that there should be bars on the windows and a double lock on the door?”
“My niece will explain that,” Madame replied. “There was one which he translated just before he died, which might have had some value. Claire did not feel like examining it at the time. She wished it kept safely, however.”
“I see,” Mr. Johnson murmured.