“Not thinking of leaving us, are you, Lady Elfreda?”
Quickly and nervously Girlie replied that she was not.
“Of course you’re not,” Mrs. Minever laughed. “Until after Tuesday at all events. You have only three days now.” Mrs. Minever laughed a second time, perhaps a shade sardonically. “How relieved you’ll be! I am sure you have found us very dull. But when you get to Amory Towers you’ll be able to play piquet with Mrs. Lancelot. I hope you are a good player. Mrs. Lancelot, I believe, is very proud of her piquet.”
The yellow chrysanthemum lady was a little inclined to quiz. She was the soul of good nature, but Girlie’s aloof detachment from her surroundings invited criticism. The manner of the chief guest was so constrained, so unnatural, that the only explanation was “side.” Evidently this daughter of Lord Carabbas had such a sense of her position that she did not find it easy to mix with other people on terms of equality. Yet when the worst had been said of the yellow chrysanthemum lady she was really the least censorious of women. Besides, she was not in a mood for chaff this morning, no matter how fully it was deserved or how much the occasion called for it. Mrs. Minever, in point of fact, was graver this morning, more resolutely serious than the guest had yet seen her. In Mrs. Minever’s own words, “a very provoking thing had happened.”
“My dear,” said Mrs. Minever in a fluttered tone, “you must please tell your maid to be sure and keep your jewels under lock and key. One of my rings—a rather valuable one—has disappeared. And you heard what Mrs. Lancelot said yesterday? I’m afraid there is not the slightest doubt that a gang of burglars is at work in the neighborhood.”
Readily enough Girlie promised to keep her jewels under lock and key.
“Of course it may be some one in the house. We are always changing our servants. My husband is consulting the police.”
Girlie’s heart sank. She did not need to be very wise or very clever to foresee the bearing such a circumstance would have upon her flight. If she bolted now, without ostensible cause, the mere fact would be terribly against her. Even as it was, when her imposture was revealed, she felt sure it would go hard with her; yet with these deeper grounds for even blacker suspicion, she was likely to be faced with a charge she was wholly unable to meet.
Her nerve was badly shaken, but this new turn of events gave her a sudden distaste for the half-formed plan. Beyond the crude fact that she simply lacked the money to undertake the journey there was now an even stronger reason why she should continue to stand her ground.
All the same the standing of her ground promised to be a soul testing process. It was by no means certain that her courage would hold out. For one thing the mere sight of Lord Duckingfield had the power to involve her in a perfect orgy of conflicting emotions. If the look of him, gravely polite, rather anxiously formal, meant anything, he was clearly waiting for his answer. Why had she not had the strength of mind to let him know the previous evening that he sought the impossible? What was the good of having perceptions and fine feelings, if one did not act in accordance with them?