“Ah!” said Mr Stubbs. “What would you say if I was to tell you that this very Loodervic Lavenham is lurking somewhere in these parts?”
“I do not think so,” said Eustacie, with a shake of her head. “And I hope very much that it is not true, because there has been enough disgrace for us, and we do not desire that there should be any more.” An idea occurred to her. She added: “I see now that you are a very brave man, and I will tell you that if my cousin is truly in Sussex you must be excessively careful.”
Mr Stubbs looked at her rather more fixedly than before. “Oh, I must, must I?” he said.
“You have not been warned then?” cried Eustacie, shocked.
“No,” said Mr Stubbs. “I ain’t been warned particular.”
“But it is infamous that they have not told you!” declared Eustacie. “ Je n’en reviendrai jamais! ”
“If it’s all the same to you, miss, I’d just as soon you’d talk in a Christian language,” said Mr Stubbs. “What was it they had ought to have warned me about?”
Eustacie spread out her hands. “His pistols!” she said dramatically. “Do you not know that my cousin is the man who put out sixteen candles by shooting them, and did not miss one?”
Mr Stubbs cast an involuntary glance behind him. “He put out sixteen candles?” he demanded.
“But yes, have I not said so?”