Mr. Bradfield, who was walking towards the front door, stopped suddenly.
“Where is Miss Christina now?” he asked.
Mr. Graham-Shute answered.
“She’s up in the Chinese-room, sewing for this tomfoolery my wife’s getting up.”
“Mr. Donald has just gone up there with some things he’s been buying for her in the town,” added Stelfox.
“That’s all right,” said Mr. Graham-Shute. “He’ll be hanging about there for the rest of the afternoon, so that if this poor fellow should get in there, she’ll have someone to stand by her.”
“Stelfox,” said Mr. Bradfield as he left the house, “let somebody watch the door of the Chinese-room.”
But this order was given too late. Chris had, indeed, been sewing upstairs, as Mr. Graham-Shute said, and Donald had returned from the town with his tapes and buttons. But several things had happened since then.
In the first place, Donald had wanted to make his return an opportunity of making love to Chris.
“Why, six pieces of tape! three reels of number forty! one packet of mixed needles! two boxes of pins! Mr. Shute, you’re a genius! You haven’t made a mistake!”