第138章

haven’tevengotitinthehouse。“

Shestaggeredback；andlookedupforthefirsttime。

“Don’talarmyourself，“hewenton。“It’ssealedupwithmyseal；

andit’ssafeinmybankers’keeping。Ipostedittothemmyself。

Youdon’tstickatatrifle，Mrs。Dethridge。IfIhadkeptitlockedupinthehouse，youmighthaveforcedthelockwhenmybackwasturned。IfIhadkeptitaboutme——Imighthavehadthattowelovermyface，inthesmallhoursofthemorning!ThebankerswillgiveyoubackyourConfession——justastheyhavereceiveditfromme——onreceiptofanorderinmyhandwriting。DowhatIhavetoldyou；andyoushallhavetheorderto-night。“

Shepassedherapronoverherface，anddrewalongbreathofrelief。Geoffreyturnedtothedoor。

“Iwillbebackatsixthisevening，“hesaid。“ShallIfinditdone？“

Shebowedherhead。

Hisfirstconditionaccepted，heproceededtothesecond。

“Whentheopportunityoffers，“heresumed，“Ishallgouptomyroom。Ishallringthediningroombellfirst。Youwillgoupbeforemewhenyouhearthat——andyouwillshowmehowyoudiditintheemptyhouse？“

Shemadetheaffirmativesignoncemore。

Atthesamemomentthedoorinthepassagebelowwasopenedandclosedagain。Geoffreyinstantlywentdownstairs。ItwaspossiblethatAnnemighthaveforgottensomething；anditwasnecessarytopreventherfromreturningtoherownroom。

Theymetinthepassage。

“Tiredofwaitinginthegarden？“heasked，abruptly。

Shepointedtothedining-room。

“Thepostmanhasjustgivenmealetterforyou，throughthegratinginthegate，“sheanswered。“Ihaveputitonthetableinthere。“

Hewentin。ThehandwritingontheaddressoftheletterwasthehandwritingofMrs。Glenarm。Heputitunreadintohispocket，andwentbacktoAnne。

“Stepout!“hesaid。“Weshalllosethetrain。“

TheystartedfortheirvisittoHolchesterHouse。

ATafewminutesbeforesixo’clockthatevening，LordHolchester’scarriagebroughtGeoffreyandAnnebacktothecottage。

Geoffreypreventedtheservantfromringingatthegate。Hehadtakenthekeywithhim，whenhelefthomeearlierintheday。

HavingadmittedAnne，andhavingclosedthegateagain，hewentonbeforehertothekitchenwindow，andcalledtoHesterDethridge。

“Takesomecoldwaterintothedrawing-roomandfillthevaseonthechimney-piece，“hesaid。“Thesooneryouputthoseflowersintowater，“headded，turningtohiswife，“thelongertheywilllast。“

Hepointed，ashespoke，toanosegayinAnne’shand，whichJuliushadgatheredforherfromtheconservatoryatHolchesterHouse。Leavinghertoarrangetheflowersinthevase，hewentupstairs。Afterwaitingforamoment，hewasjoinedbyHesterDethridge。

“Done？“heasked，inawhisper。

Hestermadetheaffirmativesign。

Geoffreytookoffhisbootsandledthewayintothespareroom。

Theynoiselesslymovedthebedbacktoitsplaceagainstthepartitionwall——andlefttheroomagain。WhenAnneenteredit，someminutesafterward，nottheslightestchangeofanykindwasvisiblesinceshehadlastseenitinthemiddleoft