Naturally he could not foresee that interview in the summerhouse; he was not entirely prepared for that; but he met it, when it came, with all the cool effrontery that was a part of him.
If Nick Carter knew and understood Jimmy Duryea, no less did Jimmy Duryea know and understand the detective.
At least he knew that Nick Carter could not be bluffed.
Jimmy’s trump card was Nan—and Nan’s position was precarious; and Jimmy knew that the detective would stand for Nan, and protect her, just as far as it was possible to do so.
But, after the interview in the summerhouse, Jimmy was thoughtful. He knew that the truce that had been declared when Nick took the irons off his wrists was only a temporary arrangement, and that the detective would lose no time in drawing the coils about the interloper, and so tightly that there would be no way of escape left open.
Jimmy realized that in order to succeed now he must play what remained of the game with supreme boldness—and that he must rely upon his established position in that house to see him through it to the end.
At dinner, as has been said, he watched his two active enemies, covertly, all the time. He gave very little thought to Chick, although he recognized the fact that the assistant was there, prepared to render aid whenever it should become necessary to do so.
After dinner, Jimmy kept his eyes open and his wits on the alert, and he saw Nick and Nan when they withdrew to one corner of the veranda, and entered upon that intimate interview.
What Jimmy would have been willing to sacrifice could he have overheard that conversation need not be estimated upon; and the longer he watched it from a distance, the more anxious he became concerning what it might portend.