The idea tickled his fancy immensely, but he did not embrace it without all his customary caution.
Carefully and methodically he weighed the pros and cons of success, only to be ultimately convinced that the arguments against the scheme were of practically no account.
To secure the success of his enterprise, however, he needed at least one assistant, and his mind turned without hesitation in the direction of Dunton.
But before he saw Dunton it was expedient to ascertain the whereabouts of Melun. Then it occurred to him that he had been more than foolish to allow Melun to escape from Trant without having secured any information as to where he now lay in hiding.
Had he returned to his rooms? That was doubtful; and the doubt was confirmed when Westerham called at Rider Street to ascertain. Captain Melun had not returned to town.
Grateful to Mme. Estelle for the timely news she had given him of Melun's journey to Trant Hall, Westerham was by no means unmindful of his promise to tell her of all that had happened.
He had simply delayed his visit because he had been in hopes that if he could only find Melun he would be able to go to her with some definite proposition.
For it was now entirely obvious that Melun, unable to be true to any man or any woman, had merely been using Mme. Estelle as an agent, and had not the faintest notion of fulfilling his promise to her.
It was inconceivable that unless Melun wished to push his advantage to the utmost—that is to say, to the extreme limit of forcing Lord Penshurst to agree to his marriage with Lady Kathleen—that he could possibly have had the hardihood, not to say the foolhardiness, of conducting the raid of the night before.