“No,” she replied nervously. “A sort of half-presentiment of evil came over me. I can’t explain it. But it doesn’t matter: it has gone now.”
“According to Major Denham’s theory it is the effect of the goose we had for supper,” he rejoined laughingly; but even in the dim moonlight he could see that she was unusually pale.
The brougham approached the Towers through the small gate at the north side of the house, at which angle the studio was built. As it drove through, the occupants detected a faint odour of burning. At the same moment the noisy clatter of horses’ hoofs warned them of the approach of some vehicle: and in the course of a few seconds a fire-engine dashed rapidly past them, causing their horses to swerve sharply to the left.
Herbert let down the window and looked out. A thin line of smoke, emitting sparks, was plainly discernible through the trees. Another bend in the road gave him a closer view.
“Good heavens, Marjorie!” he exclaimed in horror, sinking back into his seat. “It looks as if the Towers were on fire!”
It was the first time he had addressed her without prefixing her title, but she was too excited to notice it just then. The Towers on fire meant that the inmates, including Celia, were in peril: this thought was uppermost in her mind.
Karne gave orders to the coachman to drive faster; and in a short space of time they had arrived upon the scene.
The spectacle that met their gaze confirmed their fears. The Towers was on fire; but as yet the studio only, and not the house, had been attacked. A number of firemen were diligently plying the hose, their endeavours being noisily encouraged by the excited servants.
Persuading Lady Marjorie to remain in the carriage, Herbert sprang out, not waiting for the footman to attend at the door. Every pulse in his body seemed throbbing, but with an effort he pulled himself together, and set about making inquiries with as much calmness as he could muster.
The fire must have been smouldering since the early part of the evening, but had broken out less than an hour ago. Directly the discovery was made, Roberts had been sent off in the dog-cart to give the alarm and fetch his master. The firemen had been able to remove some of the paintings out of the studio, but those on the walls and floor were blistered by the heat; and four of the larger ones were totally destroyed.