This did not seem to Mrs. Gregg a very easy thing to do. She hesitated.
“I’m afraid I couldn’t,” she said at last. “I don’t see how I could.”
“All that’s required,” said Dr. O’Grady, “is a little tact. You are always good at tact, Mrs. Gregg. I’m perfectly certain that you’ll be able to manage. You must suggest each garment you intend to put on the girl in such a way that Mrs. Ford will think that she suggested it. That ought to be easy enough.” Everybody likes being credited with the possession of tact. This is curious, because hardly anyone likes being called a liar; and yet tact is simply a delicate form of lying. So, of course, is politeness of every kind, and nobody considers it wrong to aim at being polite. Mrs. Gregg, who would certainly have resented an accusation of habitual untruthfulness, felt flattered when Dr. O’Grady said she was tactful. She even believed him and allowed herself to be persuaded to undertake the management of Mrs. Ford.
“Good,” said Dr. O’Grady. “Then I’ll leave the whole business in your hands. I have to be off. But you’ve no time to lose. You’ll have to set about your work at once. I’ll send Mary Ellen to you as I go through the hall. You can measure her, and then take her over to see Mrs. Ford. After that you’d better order the new dress. If there’s any hitch in the proceedings you can send for me, but I don’t see why there should be.”
He shook hands with Mrs. Gregg and hurried from the room, without giving her the chance of making any kind of protest or asking any more questions.
He found Mary Ellen seated on an uncomfortable oak chair in the hall.
“Mary Ellen,” he said, “would you like a new dress?”
“I would.”
“Then go into the dining-room—the room I’ve just come out of. You’ll find Mrs. Gregg there. Do exactly what she tells you without making any objections or asking questions. If she insists on your washing your face, wash it, without grumbling. If Moriarty is waiting for you anywhere between this and the town—— Is Moriarty waiting for you?”
“He might.”