Mrs. Graham-Shute turned towards him, and Chris slipped quickly out of the corner she was in, passed round the two, and crossed the room to the door.
“Wait a minute, Miss Abercarne,” said Mrs. Graham-Shute peremptorily, catching sight of Chris when the girl’s hand was on the door.
But Chris took no notice. She had been running about and tiring herself out for that lady for two days, and now at last she rebelled. She saw Donald start and turn round, and that was another reason why she felt that she must make her escape. She had had enough of Graham-Shutes for the present; and as they could find her as long as she was in the house, she pulled out a cloak from a box-ottoman in the hall, took from a peg in the outer hall a lantern which always hung there, lit the candle in it, and escaped out of the house. She would go and see how the work of erecting the stage in the barn was getting on.
She had to cross the park by a path which led alongside a plantation to the group of new buildings, erected by Mr. Bradfield, which consisted of the stables and some farm-buildings, one of which was the great barn. The key had been left in the lock, so she got in without difficulty. It was quite dark inside, and apparently deserted. Raising her lantern high above her head, Chris saw that the men had finished the work of erecting the stage, and that they had all left the building.
While she still stood by the door, she heard Donald’s voice whistling to one of the dogs. She did not want him to find her here, and to inflict upon her another “scene.” So she shut the great door very softly, first taking the key from the outside, and replacing it on the inside. And when she had shut it, she turned the key softly in the lock.
“Now,” she thought to herself, “if he should think of trying the door, he will find it locked, think the place empty, and pass on.”
With a sigh of relief to think that she had gained half an hour’s peace, Chris crossed the wide barn floor, and examined the stage. It had been very well put up, and was firm to the tread. For she tried it herself, putting her lantern down on one corner of the stage while she did so.
She tried a step or two, but stopped suddenly, hearing something behind her which was not the creaking of a board. She looked round quickly, but saw nothing except the bare brick walls, and the forms still piled in one corner. So she turned round again to face the imaginary audience.
To her horror, she found that she had a real one.