“It ain’t. You may only secure it from the inside. That’s very simply done: you have only to thrust a wedge between the latch and the guard, so that it can’t be raised. If that’s done, the boss won’t move, of course. I daresay that when they came spying out priests’ holes, in the old days, they used to try if any of the mouldings of the wainscots could be moved. This would have baffled them!”
“No doubt. Is there no means of securing the entrance at the bottom of the stair?”
“No, but the cupboard is kept locked. We don’t use it nowadays.”
The Earl held out his hand. “The key, if you please!”
“I was going to lock the cupboard, and put the key back!”
“Thank you, I prefer to keep it in my own possession. Where, in general, is it to be found?”
“In the steward’s room. Perran has all the keys hanging in a cupboard there.”
“It is not an arrangement which recommends itself to me.”
“Oh, as you please!” Martin said, and gave an old-fashioned key into his hand.
“Thank you. Now go back to your own room, and tell Chard I wish to see him, if you please!”