Annoyed that the shot had fallen short, Violet aimed again.
“Didn’t you hear me? I said jailed. J-a-i-l-e-d! Now I may add for two years. That is what I meant when you spoke of your prison. I agreed with you that it must be dreadful to be in one. I said I daresay it is even worse than you think.”
Leilah half raised a hand. “But——”
Unheedingly Violet continued. “Now, as for Verplank, if Barouffski were to surprise him here with you he could kill you both, yes, and be acquitted. But you—I have told you what he can do. Moreover, if he so much as suspects you, he can call the police. But excuse me. You were saying?”
“Nothing of any moment.”
But Violet persisted. “What was it?”
“Merely that during the Terror a woman went to the guillotine smelling a rose.”
At this flank movement Violet winced, but she rallied.
“Yes and rehearsed the act beforehand. They all did. The great ladies of the period rehearsed for the guillotine that they might die, as they had lived, with grace. Those were the good old days. These are the bad new ones. Anything of the kind would be ridiculous now.”
To this, gravely as before, Leilah assented. “No doubt. But aren’t you rather rambling about the grounds? It seems to me that you also have something up your sleeve.”