“Will they believe that?” he asked.
“It doesn’t matter if they don’t,” said Gerard. “I want them to think that you’ve been frightened into holding your tongue. I want you to keep clear of police-stations to-night, as we shall probably be shadowed. And I suggest that you should communicate with the police, if you mean to do so, by letter only. And give a warning that, if a policeman is sent to see you, he must be in plain clothes.”
Sir William, now thoroughly alarmed, agreed to all these suggestions without demur, and following the directions given him, took care not to go near a police-station that night.
Two days later, after having remained indoors all the time, he wrote to Gerard to tell him to keep away from the Priory, as he had communicated with the police, and a detective was to be among the guests on the following Sunday. He said that he had written an apology to Mrs. Van Santen, and “made it all right with them.” And he ended by a hope that Gerard would find some means to induce Miss Davison to break off her connection with these dubious people, at least until the police had satisfied themselves about them.
Now Gerard dared not write to Miss Davison, for fear of his letter falling into other hands than hers. All he could do, therefore, was to go down to the Priory on the following Sunday, in the hope that he might be able to warn her to get away in time to prevent her being involved in the catastrophe which was bound to come.
He was very nervous as he approached the Priory, having come by train, as on the last occasion. He wondered whether Harry Van Santen knew that he had been recognized, and whether he would find marked changes to have taken place in the conduct of the establishment since the sensational charges brought against it on the previous Sunday.
Rather to his surprise, he found everything as usual there. Not even the ladies, who had been the most frequent among the guests, appeared to have been frightened away. For on entering the drawing-room where they were all assembled after luncheon, he at once recognized two or three faces of ladies who had been there the Sunday before.
If possible, the gayety, which was a feature of the place, was greater than ever. The Van Santens all greeted him exactly as if nothing had happened, with the exception of Mrs. Van Santen, who said to him triumphantly, when he shook hands with her—
“Ah, Mr. Buckland, I’m very pleased to see you again. Have you heard that your friend Sir William Gurdon has written a long and most handsome apology for the way he behaved last Sunday? I got it on Tuesday last, and I at once sent a copy of it to all the ladies and gentlemen who were here when he made that ill-mannered outbreak. I couldn’t send you one, because I didn’t know your address. But I’ll show you the letter itself presently.”
Gerard congratulated her as well as he could, and in the meantime his eyes roamed about in search of two people: Miss Davison for one; the detective who was to be among the guests this day, for the other.