"How long since?" Julian asked next.
"Not very long, sir."
"Be more particular. _How_ long?"
"I didn't hear, sir."
"Did the lodge-keeper's wife speak to the person when she saw
her?"
"No, sir: she didn't get the chance, as I understand it. She is a
stout woman, if you remember. The other was too quick for her--
discovered her, sir, and (as the saying is) gave her the slip."
"In what part of the grounds did this happen?"
The servant pointed in the direction of the side hall. "In that
part, sir. Either in the Dutch garden or the shrubbery. I am not
sure which."
It was plain, by this time, that the man's information was too
imperfect to be practically of any use. Julian asked if the
lodge-keeper's wife was in the house.
"No, sir. Her husband has gone out to search the grounds in her
place, and she is minding the gate. They sent their boy with the
message. From what I can make out from the lad, they would be
thankful if they could get a word more of advice from you, sir."
Julian reflected for a moment.
So far as he could estimate them, the probabilities were that the
stranger from Mannheim had already made her way into the house;
that she had been listening in the billiard-room; that she had
found time enough to escape him on his approaching to open the
door; and that she was now (in the servant's phrase) "somewhere
in the grounds," after eluding the pursuit of the lodgekeeper's
wife.
Pages:
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256