“But no, Sarah! If Basil comes to murder Ludovic in the night he will find not Ludovic, but you!”
“Yes, that was what I was thinking,” said Miss Thane.
“Well, but it would be a good thing, Sarah!”
“A good thing for whom?” demanded Miss Thane with asperity.
“For Ludovic, of course! You do not mind doing just that little thing to help him, do you? You said that you wanted to have an adventure!”
“I may have said that I wanted to have an adventure,” replied Miss Thane, “but I never said that I wanted to be murdered in my bed!”
“But I find that you are absurd, Sarah! Of course he would not murder you!”
“Unless, of course, he regarded it as a good opportunity to rid the world of a chattering female,” said Sir Tristram, with a gravity wholly belied by the twinkle in his eyes. “That is a risk, however, which we shall have to run.”
Miss Thane looked at him. “You did say ‘we’, didn’t you?” she said in a failing voice.
He laughed. “Yes, I said it. But in all seriousness, Miss Thane, I do not think there will be any risk. If you are afraid, share Eustacie’s bed.”