"I—er—of course shall use great discretion——" he began.
Lieutenant Topham shook his head.
"I am directed to ask you to tell nobody."
"Of course Mrs Drummond——"
"Not even Mrs Drummond."
"But this is really very high-handed, sir! Mr Burnett is a very old friend of mine——"
The Lieutenant came a step nearer to him, and said very earnestly and persuasively—
"You have an opportunity, Mr Drummond, of doing a service to your country by keeping absolute silence. We can trust you to do that for England, surely?"
"For Great Britain," corrected Mr Drummond, who was a member of a society for propagating bagpipe music and of another for commemorating Bannockburn,—"well, yes, if you put it like that—Oh, certainly, certainly. Yes, you can trust me, Mr Topham. But—er—what am I to say to Mrs Drummond about your visit?"
"Say that I was sent to ask you to keep your lights obscured," suggested the lieutenant with a smile.