“If you wanted me, why could you not have sent me word to come to you?” Theo said roughly. “To have driven all this way, and alone, was madness! I wish you may not have cause to regret such foolhardiness!”
“There are those who could tell you that my wounds heal quickly. Sit down, Theo!”
His cousin cast himself into the chair on the other side of the table, but said: “And what if you had met with another accident on your way here? Good God, you must know the risks you run!”
“I am not afraid of being ambushed today,” replied the Earl. “Martin went to Grantham, and Chard with him. Even if he has by now returned to Stanyon, Chard is still watching him. He won’t let him out of his sight until he sees me safe home again.” He paused, and for a moment or two there was silence, broken only by the sound of a horse’s hooves somewhere in the distance, and the measured ticking of the clock on the mantelshelf. “So, you see, Theo, I had nothing to fear in driving over to see you.”
The sound of hooves was growing momently more distinct; the Earl slightly turned his head, listening.
“Well! I am glad to know you took that precaution at least!” said Theo. “But who is watching Hickling? Did you think of that?”
“Why, no!” replied Gervase. “Hickling is certainly devoted to Martin, but I hardly think he would commit murder to oblige him!”
He rose from his chair as he spoke, and walked to the window. The hooves were pounding up the carriage-sweep. “What is it?” Theo asked. “Has Chard come to look for you?”
The Earl’s right hand had been hidden in the pocket of his driving-coat. He withdrew it, and his cousin saw that it held a silver-mounted pistol. “No,” he said, in an odd voice, “but I seem to have been out in my reckoning! I am no longer safe from the strange accidents that befall me.”
“Good God, Gervase, what do you mean? Who is it?” exclaimed Theo, starting up.