Without a second's hesitation Westerham leapt up from his chair and took out his watch.
“I have just an hour and a half to get there,” he said.
[CHAPTER XVII
MELODRAMA AT TRANT HALL]
When Lady Kathleen bade good-bye to Westerham she drove first to Downing Street, where she met her father.
Together they travelled down to Trant Hall, and on the way Kathleen gave Lord Penshurst a full account of all that had passed since she had been summoned so suddenly to Rouen.
The Premier sat with bowed head, holding his daughter's hand as he listened to her narrative. For the moment it seemed to crush him utterly, and when Kathleen had finished speaking he lifted up his head and said, in a stricken way:
“So this is the end of it?” He added, after a few moments: “Are you sure that a week is the full limit of time we can obtain?”
“I am only too certain,” answered Kathleen. “If we fail within the next week, then——” she broke off and looked apprehensively about her as though even the cushions of the carriage might have ears. Finally she bent her head and whispered into her father's ear.