"No more than that?" said Ryder. "Ay, she guessed as I should look."
She whipped on her hat and went out.
Who should she meet, or, I might say, run against, at the hall door, but Father Leonard.
He had come at once, in compliance with Mrs. Gaunt's request.
CHAPTER XXII.
Mrs. Ryder uttered a little scream of dismay. The priest smiled, and said, sweetly, "Forgive me, mistress, I fear I startled you."
"Indeed you did, sir," said she. She looked furtively round, and saw Leicester and his underling on the watch.
Leicester, unaware of her treachery, made her a signal of intelligence.
She responded to it, to gain time.
It was a ticklish situation. Some would have lost their heads. Ryder was alarmed, but all the more able to defend her plans. Her first move, as usual with such women, was—a lie.