Eustacie frowned. “But you must have an—”
“Yes, we won’t go into that again,” he said hastily.
“And I think,” continued Eustacie, visibly attracted by the vision of herself as a martyred bride, “that perhaps it is my duty to marry you.”
Ludovic raised his head from the pillows. “Well, you can’t marry him. I’m the head of the family now, and I forbid it.”
“Oh, very well!” submitted Eustacie. “I dare say I should not like always to be a sacrifice, after all.”
“Am I to understand,” inquired Miss Thane, “that Sir Tristram is to become one of us? If you are satisfied he is not the villain it is not for me to raise objections, of course, but I must say I am disappointed. We shall have to remake all our plans.”
“Yes, we shall,” agreed Eustacie. “And that reminds me that if Tristram truly did not steal Ludovic’s ring, there is not any need for me to marry him. I had forgotten.”
Sir Tristram looked rather startled, observing which, Miss Thane said kindly: “You must know that we had it all fixed that Eustacie was to marry you so as to be able to search in your collection for the missing ring.”
“What a splendid notion, to be sure!” said Sir Tristram sardonically.
“Yes, it was, wasn’t it?” said Eustacie. “But now we do not know who is the villain, so it is of no use.”