"There must be no failure, remember," said his wife, betraying considerable anxiety. "What could have aroused the suspicions of this accursed girl, I wonder?"
"Ah! I can't tell. I'm always most careful. But I have confirmed my suspicion that while the girl is in the house the fellow watches outside. He followed me last night, and I led him a pretty good chase up to Hampstead, where I called to see Ted Lyons."
"Ted might be useful—eh?" she exclaimed quickly.
"No. We must keep this affair to ourselves. It's far too dangerous."
"Well, Ena and I will help you. But something ought surely to be done as soon as possible!"
"I quite agree, Lilla. But the question is how shall we act for the best?"
"It's easy to deal with the girl—especially as she's living in your house for a week—but how shall we tackle the man?" she asked.
"That's the difficulty. I don't want anything to happen while she's in my house," was his reply. "I allowed her to stay because I wanted to satisfy myself that she was really spying. Now I've confirmed my suspicions, and we must act."
"Well, at any rate, it's a good thing that we know the truth," the woman answered. "You must have blundered in some way or other, so it is up to you to wriggle out of a very awkward situation."
"It is awkward, I admit," he said, gazing blankly out of the window. "If they got to know the true secret of that upstairs room, it would mean that we should at once be in Queer Street, in more senses than one—shouldn't we?"