“And the other?”
“Was to try you, my dear friend. It contains only bricks. Forgive me for putting you to this test. I should not have doubted you.”
“But to try me?” I said. “How would you have known if I had called in a detective?”
The Marquis looked at me.
“I had not thought of that,” he confessed.
It was my turn to look at him, and, I fear, not altogether with a flattering eye.
“Why was it addressed to Mr. Balfour?” I asked.
“A ruse,” he replied, with his air of confident mystery returning somewhat. “A mere ruse, my dear friend.”
“I perceive,” I said, a little dryly. “Well, you can trust me for my own sake not to explode this box; also to make the preparations for this dinner.”
“My friend, I make them.”