Hitherto Lady Thicknesse had looked down, but she now regarded him with an interest she had never felt before.
“These sentiments do you credit, sir,” said Scrope. “But I must now ask what steps you took immediately after the attempt?”
“I endeavoured to obtain employment.”
“In what way?”
“I decline to answer that question, sir,” replied Chetwynd.
“As you please, sir,” said Scrope. “I can easily obtain the requisite information.”
And he rang the bell. The summons was promptly answered by the butler.
“Higgins,” observed Scrope, “when Charles Brown-low, the former footman, was discharged, did Mr. Tankard apply for the place?”
“He did, sir.”
“For his son?”