"And I wouldn't worry about that chloroform--it is chloroform, isn't it?--in the right-hand pocket of your coat."
As she said this Miss Jones threw the extinguished match from her on to the bedroom floor. A great cloud of horror was settling down on Mr. Bennett's brain. Was this fair creature a thing of earth at all? Was she a witch or a fairy queen? Mr. Bennett was a tolerably well-educated man, and he had read of fairy queens. He gave a sudden start. Miss Jones had lighted the cigarette to her satisfaction, and had fixed her eyes upon his face again.
"I suppose you were hardly prepared for this sort of thing?"
"Hardly."
The word came from Mr. Bennett's stammering lips.
"When you heard about the defencelessness of Acacia Villa, and about Miss Jones--who was peculiar--and that sort of thing, you doubtless took it for granted that it was to be all plain sailing?"
"Something of the kind."
Not the least odd part of the affair was that Mr. Bennett found himself answering Miss Jones without the least intention of doing anything of the sort.
"Those diamonds you were looking for are at the bottom of the drawer--at the back. Just get them out and bring them here. In a red leather case--you know."
Mechanically Mr. Bennett did as he was told. When his back was turned to the lady, and he ceased to be compelled to meet her eyes, quite a spasm of relief went over him. A faint desire was again born within his breast to assert his manhood. The lady's quiet voice immediately interposed.