“You talk like an educated man. Economic determination did not bring you to this. You have absolutely no excuse.”
“I have offered none,” he said drily.
She spoke with a sudden air of candor.
“Do you know this situation interests me very much. One reads about burglars, of course, but that sort of thing seems rather remote. We’ve never had any robberies here before, and now to come face to face with a real burglar, cracking—isn’t that the word you use?—a safe, is rather disconcerting.”
“You bear up remarkably well,” he assured her.
It was her turn to smile.
“I’m just wondering,” she said slowly. “My father detests notoriety.”
The intruder permitted himself to laugh gently. He thought of that pretentious tome “Operas I Have Seen.”
“How well Mr. Guestwick conceals it!”
Apparently she had not heard him. It was plain she was in the throes of making up her mind.