“Or even at Brooks’s.”
“ I am certainly a member.”
“My brother,” said Sarah. “He is at present in bed, nursing a severe cold, but I dare say he will like to receive you.”
“It is extremely obliging of him, but my sole desire is to see my cousin, Miss Thane.”
Sarah, whose attention had been caught by the sound of an arrival, paid no heed to this hint, but peeped over the short window-blind. What she saw made her feel uneasy; she turned her head and requested Sir Tristram to come at once. “Tell me,” she commanded, “who are these two men in uniform?”
He came to the window. “Only a couple of Excisemen,” he answered, after a casual glance.
“Oh, is that all?” said Miss Thane in rather a hollow voice. “I expect they have come to see what Nye keeps in his cellars. My brother fancies it is all smuggled liquor.”
He looked at her in some perplexity. “They won’t find anything. May I remind you, ma’am, that I wish to see my cousin?”
Miss Thane, having watched one of the Excisemen dismount and go into the inn, was straining her ears to catch what was being said in the coffee-room. She heard the landlord’s deep voice, and wondered whether he had succeeded in persuading Ludovic to descend into the cellar. She looked at Sir Tristram, reflecting that he could not have chosen a more inopportune moment for his arrival. She ought to get rid of him, she supposed, but he did not seem to be the sort of man to be easily fobbed off. She said confidentially: “Do you know, I think it would be wisest if you were to leave your cousin with me for the present?”
“You are extremely good, ma’am, but I mean to carry her to my mother in Bath.”