"But I never heard about this!" Fountain said. "When did it happen?"
"Oh, the first was the day Daddy and I came to see you about poachers, and he borrowed that… ?" She caught her mother's eye and broke off, flushing.
"Borrowed the book?" Fountain said. "I remember. Is he ready for the other volumes yet? Didn't he say there were some more?"
Felicity stared at him. "I say," she said slowly, "did you send for it, or — or did Collins come on his own?
There was a moment's silence. "Send for it?" Fountain repeated. "Collins?"
"I thought there was something odd about it!" Felicity cried. "Daddy's fearfully fed up. Collins came and said you'd told him to fetch it back. Didn't you?"
"No," said Fountain. "No. Of course I didn't! He said that, did he? And did your father give it to him?"
"Well, yes, naturally he did. Was there something hidden in it after all?"
"My dear, too ridiculous," said Lady Matthews. "I'm sure just a misunderstanding."
"But, Mummy, don't you see? It's important! Only I'm pretty sure there wasn't anything in it, because don't you remember we looked, after the burglary? And Daddy would have noticed before that, because he was reading it." She wrinkled her brow, puzzling over it.