She raised herself to an upright position with an effort. Very curiously she did not feel in the least afraid. By an abrupt intuition, wholly inexplicable, she knew that the man had something to tell her.
"What is it?" she said.
He cringed before her.
"Let my gracious lady have patience. It is no boon that her servant would desire of her. He would only speak a word of warning in the mem-sahib's ear."
Beryl had begun to give him her full attention. She had a feeling that she had seen the man somewhere before, but where and under what circumstances she could not recall. It was no moment for retrospection and the phantom eluded her.
"What is it?" she said again, studying him with knitted brows.
He bowed himself before her till he appeared to be no more than a bundle of dirty linen.
"Let the gracious lady be warned by her servant," he said. "Fletcher sahib is a man of evil heart."
Beryl's eyes widened. Assuredly this was the last thing she had expected to hear from such a source.
"What do you mean?" she asked.