“I believe she goes there every day. It is in Manchester Square, isn’t it?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Then I think it must be that. Because two or three times lately I have heard her mention Manchester Square as if it were very much on her mind. Once I remember her saying that Manchester Square was worth all the rest of London put together! And another time she said that Manchester square ought to be in Paris. That struck me as very strange, but after making inquiries I found that the Wallace Collection was situated there, or near there.”
“Hertford House is in the Square.”
“Then it is that. You know how wrapped up Beryl is in that kind of thing. And, of course, she knows all the Paris collections by heart. Is the Wallace Collection large? Does it contain much?”
“It contains innumerable priceless treasures,” returned Braybrooke.
“Innumerable! Dear me!” murmured Fanny Cronin, managing to lift the dimly painted eyebrows in a distinctively plaintive manner. “Then I dare say we shall be here for months.”
“You don’t think,” began Braybrooke with exquisite caution, “you don’t think that possibly she may have a more human reason for remaining in London?”
Fanny Cronin made a rabbit’s mouth and looked slightly bemused.
“Human!” she said. “You think Beryl could have a human reason?”