Philip Crowdy, after a moment’s hesitation, broke the seal, and read the following astounding note—
“Dearest Dandy,
“You shall have your answer, sooner even than I promised. I do trust you; I do believe in your capacity for the better things of which you have spoken. I will marry you, when you like, and with a glad heart. Come and see me to-morrow night, and we can talk about it comfortably.
“Yours loyally,
“Margaret Barnshaw.”
Philip Crowdy dismissed the servant, with a wave of the hand, and sank into a chair helplessly.
CHAPTER III
BETTY SIGGS BECOMES ALARMED
Philip Crowdy felt, however, that there was no time to waste in vain speculation; he had plunged into a mad business, and it must be carried through at all hazards. Moreover, the more he came to think about it, the more the strong nature of the man rose up, to assist him to confront his difficulties. Essentially cool and calculating, he saw his desperate position, and saw, too, how the house of cards he was erecting might be fluttered down at a breath. At the same time, with the daring of a desperate man, he took the thing quietly, and determined to advance step by step.
Everything seemed to be in his favour. In the first place, there was evidently no suspicion, in the mind of any one he had met yet, that he was not the man he claimed to be—Dandy Chater; in the second place, the young servant who had first admitted him gave him the very clue he needed, and at the very outset. Coming into the room, immediately after Crowdy had finished reading the letter, this man asked:
“Excuse me, sir—but Mrs. Dolman would like to know whether Mr. Ogledon is coming down to-day?”