“I should have mentioned to you that I have just had the felicity of meeting him.”
“Piers?” she exclaimed. “Here? In the wood?”
“Over Beverley Brandon’s body.”
“I thought I heard voices! But how did he come to be here? And why didn’t you bring him to me directly?”
Sir Richard took time over his answer. “You see, I was under the impression that Miss Daubenay was still with you,” he explained.
“Oh, I see!” said Pen innocently. “Yes, indeed, you did quite right! We don’t want her to be included in our adventure. But did you tell Piers about me?”
“The moment did not seem to be propitious,” confessed Sir Richard. “I told him to come to visit me at the “George” to-morrow morning, and on no account to divulge his presence in the wood to-night.”
“What a surprise it will be to him when he finds me at the “George”!” said Pen gleefully.
“Yes,” said Sir Richard. “I think it will be—a surprise to him.”
She fell into step beside him on their way back to the road. “I am glad you did not tell him! I suppose he had come to look for the stammering-man? I can’t conceive how he could have had such a disagreeable person to visit him!”