“Let him alone, Falk,” the Duke said.
“He'll tell the truth. No use in frightening him.”
“Please, your Majesty,” I said again, “I was locked up in my room for taking my uncle's boat this afternoon.” One of two of them smiled when I said this: it gave me confidence.
“But how did you get into this house?” Mr. Jermyn asked.
“Please, sir,” I answered, “I saw your upper window open. So I laid a couple of planks across the lane from my window. Then I just straddled across, sir.”
“Are you used to burglary, may I ask?” said the Duke.
“No, your Majesty. But I saw the ghosts. I wanted to see how they were made.”
“Well. That's one for you, Jermyn,” said Lane. “Your ghosts haven't frightened this one.”
“Sir,” I answered. “They frightened me horribly. I wanted to be revenged for that. But after a bit I was sure they were only clockwork. I wanted to stop them. I did stop the devil upstairs, sir.”
“So you stopped the devil upstairs,” the Duke said. “What did you do then?”