"I thank you," she answered. "My sister would, no doubt, be quite well if I had one. But please do not make romances. I saw you this morning at Burgoyne Lodge. I know what you want."
"The dickens you do!" he exclaimed in blank amazement. "And pray what is it?"
"I think it is something that does not belong to you," she said, her dark eyes looking steadily at him.
"Indeed! And how do you know that?"
She shrugged her shoulders expressively. "Cela n'importe," she answered. "If you please, let us walk on so that we do not draw attention. Yes, I know what you want, and I think that I can assist you a little."
"It's very good of you to suggest it," said Maxwell-Pitt as they walked along the street; "and I'm sure I'm much obliged to you. I'm not accustomed to this sort of business, you know."
"You have made the same business once before," she said.
"You are really remarkably well informed," he replied. "The least you can do is to tell me how you come to know these things."
"Do not waste the time," she said impatiently. "I am Adèle, Miss Richards' maid. She is in town with her brother, the captain. They must not see us together. When do you intend to—to——" She hesitated.
"To pick mushrooms, shall we call it?" he answered.