She led the way across the hall towards the little room into which she had taken Arnold on his first visit. She tried the door and came to a sudden standstill, shook the handle, and looked up at Arnold in amazement.
"It seems as though it were locked," she remarked. "It's my own sitting-room. No one else is allowed to enter it. Groves!"
She turned round. The butler had hastened to her side.
"What is the meaning of this?" she asked. "My sitting-room is locked on the inside."
The man tried the handle incredulously. He, too, was dumbfounded.
"Where is your master?" Mrs. Weatherley asked.
"He retired an hour ago, madam," the man replied. "It is most extraordinary, this."
She began to shiver. Groves leaned down and tried to peer through the keyhole. He rose to his feet hastily.
"The lights are burning in the room, madam," he exclaimed, "and the key is not in the door on the other side! It looks very much as though burglars were at work there. If you will allow me, I will go round to the window outside. There is no one else up."
"I will go with you," Arnold said.