"What, don't you like the truth?"
"All right, keep the information to yourself, then."
"Good-by—I mustn't allow myself to dally in this charming room with the linnets, the sunlight, and the lady."
For a few seconds she seemed to hesitate. Then she said suddenly: "Yes, it's very nice in here. That door there leads into the morning room, and that one yonder, at the side——"
Her voice dropped and stopped; Furneaux appeared hardly to have heard, or, if hearing, to be merely making conversation.
"Yes, it leads where?" he asked, looking at her. Now, her eyes, too, dropped, and she murmured:
"Into the museum."
"The—! Well, naturally, Mr. Osborne is a connoisseur—quite so, only I rather expected you to say 'a picture gallery.' Is it—open to inspection? Can one——?"
"It is open, certainly: the door is not locked, But there's nothing much——"
"Oh, do let me have a look around, and come with me, if it will not take long. No one is more interested in curios than I."