“But I could scream if he tried to make love to me!”
“Ay, so you could. You’ve a mighty shrill scream, what’s more. All the same, it’s my belief the scheme will fail. It’s a pity I can’t recall which room the curst panel is in.”
“Yes, I have been feeling that, too,” agreed Miss Thane. “I mean—it would be easier, wouldn’t it?”
“In an adventure,” said Eustacie severely, “it is not proper to have everything quite easy.”
Miss Thane was about to beg pardon when the sound of a quick, firm footstep on the stairs made them all look towards the door. It opened, but it was only Sir Tristram who came in, so that both ladies were able to relax their suddenly strained attitudes.
“Oh, it’s you, is it?” said Ludovic, withdrawing his hand from under his pillows, where it had been grasping the butt of a serviceable pistol. “Come in, and shut the door. Eustacie has thought of a plan. I don’t say it’s a good one, but it might answer.”
“Has the Beau been here?” Sir Tristram demanded.
“Yes, that’s what put this scheme of hers into Eustacie’s head. I wish I might have seen him. She tells me he has taken to wearing a lilac-striped coat.”
“I thought I could not be mistaken in his chaise. Why did he come?”
“He came to see me, and you must at once listen to me, mon cousin, because I have made a plot. I am going to take Sarah to the Dower House, because she has an envie to see it. I have told Basil that she likes old houses, and he was very content that she should see his. And when we are there I shall pretend that I wish to consult Basil, and while I am explaining to him how it is that I do not wish to marry you, Sarah will ask leave to make a drawing of the woodwork in the library. In that way she will be able to search for the secret panel, and when she has found it, she must steal the ring, and make just one little drawing to show Basil. Is it not a very good plot?”