"Suppose he should kidnap one of your children?"
The suggestion was made on the spur of the moment, but the effect was immediate. The poor woman turned pale—paler even than before—and trembled.
"Say no more, Robert," she answered. "I will promise."
"You promise to let no one of your neighbors know where you are going?"
"Yes. But, Robert, is it my husband—is it Mr. Craven who is in search of me?"
"Ask no more," said Sharpley. "You may know some time, but I have told you all I wish you at present to know. But I must be going. To-morrow, at ten, remember."
"I will be ready."
"Cleverly managed!" said Sharpley to himself. "I must take care that that boy does not meet my sister again. The name has already struck him. If he sees her again he may come to suspect the truth, and suspicion once aroused, he may suspect me."
He didn't at once return to the hotel, but going to a part of London two miles distant, engaged a somewhat better lodging for his sister. The next morning he went to Hurst Court, and, finding her ready, moved her at once to her new home.
"How kind you are, Robert!" she said.