There was no telling what might happen to it before Matthias returned. A prying chambermaid....
And then it was quite possible that "The Lie" would not last out the week in Springfield.
Quard had more than once pointed out: "There's nothing sure in this game but the fact that you're bound to close sooner 'n you looked for."
"Maybe I'll be back inside a week," Joan doubted.
There was always that chance; and she had already left one door open against her return.
"Anyway, it isn't safe, there. And I can mail it to him, registered, when I'm sure he's home."
Turning back, she snatched up the leather case and darted guiltily from the study and out of the house.
XXV
The stage-wise have long since learned to discount a "slump" in the next performance to follow a brilliantly successful première: the phenomenon is as inevitable as poor food on a route of one-night stands.