CHAPTER XXI
Then for a few moments there was silence. The words Miss Davison had uttered so hastily, in response to his warning that there was a detective present, Gerard could not but look upon as an admission.
If all had been right at the Priory, why should she have expected to see there an agent of the police?
She seemed to see that her words were a mistake, for presently she laughed without much merriment, and said, looking at him with a steady gaze which had in it something of what he felt to be unmerited reproach—
“And so your friend Sir William thinks he had better be on the safe side. That is what you call hedging, isn’t it, in racing matters? He writes a letter of humble apology for his rudeness to Mrs. Van Santen, and at the same time takes care to expose her—and us all, to the ignominy of having a detective introduced to the house to watch us and to see that we do not cheat at cards?”
Gerard met her gaze steadily.
“In the circumstances, I don’t think he is to be blamed, Miss Davison. I think, on the contrary, that his conduct is more excusable than mine. For as, whether he was cheated or no, he undoubtedly believed that he was, he may have thought himself at liberty to use all possible means of getting proof of the fact. I, on the other hand, while believing that he was cheated, and that other people have been cheated here, have warned you of the fact that the house is sheltering a detective, although I am afraid you may make use of my warning to put these thieves on their guard.”
Miss Davison heard him with a set white face, but without any interruption. They were standing together in the veranda, for, late as the season was, the afternoon was so fine that the French windows were open, and the guests of the Van Santens were strolling in and out, between the house and the grounds.
After a short pause she laughed again in the same hard, forced way as before.
“If you think I am likely to put thieves on their guard against the possibility of detection, you must believe that I am a friend, not to say an accomplice, of thieves myself?” she said quietly, at last.