"Goodnight," said Karl in passing. But some words of the agent's served to arrest his progress.
"Would you mind stepping in for one moment, Sir Karl? I wanted to say just a word to you, and have been watching for you to come out."
"Is it anything particular?" asked Karl, turning in at the gate at once, which Mr. Smith held open.
"I'll get a light, sir, if you will wait an instant."
Karl heard the striking of a match indoors, and Mr. Smith reappeared in the passage with a candle. He ushered Karl into the room on the left-hand; the best room, that was rarely used.
"This one has got its shutters closed," was the explanatory remark. "I generally keep the others open until I go to bed."
"Tell me at once what it is you want," said Karl. "It is late, and I shall have my household wondering where I am."
"Well, Sir Karl, first of all, I wish to ask if you are aware that you were watched into the Maze tonight?" He spoke in the lowest whisper; scarcely above his breath. The agent's one servant had been in bed at the top of the house long before: but he was a cautious man.
"No. Who watched me?"
"Two people, sir. One was Miss Blake, the lady staying with you at the Court; the other was a confounded fellow who is at Foxwood for no good, I guess, and is pushing his prying nose on the sly into everything."