"The packet? I had forgotten it," Carmen said carelessly. "Still, I did think you might have written to let me know you took it safe. But I dare say you had many interesting things to do."
"As it happened, I had," Foster replied with a touch of grimness. "For all that, I delivered the packet and got an answer."
Carmen regarded him with surprise, as if she thought he had not played up. "You can give me the answer afterwards. Tell me about Featherstone's place and his people. I'm curious about them; particularly his sisters. I suppose he has some?"
Foster thought he understood. Carmen was clever and would not have used such obvious means had she wished to learn if Lawrence had a sister who had attracted him. What she wanted was to persuade him that the packet was not important.
"I'd sooner talk about the errand you gave me. Did you know what the packet contained?"
She laughed, but he thought the laugh was forced. "Doesn't that sound rather stupid when I sent the thing?"
"Perhaps it does," said Foster gravely. "Still, I hope you didn't know."
Her coquettish manner vanished and she leaned slightly forward while her eyes got hard. Indeed, there was something feline in her alert pose. Now she had, so to speak, unsheathed her claws, he was glad the advantage was heavily on his side. For all that, he did not want to hurt her.
"Go on," she said sharply.
"Very well. I got an answer, which I opened. I'll show it to you, but won't give it up."