The Voice of Virtue 295
“ We're really very foolish children,” she said gaily,
as she sipped her brandy, “ making all this fuss about
nothing at all. There are a thousand and one reasons
why she may have taken it into her head to go out.
Why, of course—it’s awfully hot in here, she probably
thought she’d take a turn in the fresh air. Anyhow,
you don’t have to bother about me. You boys had
better get down to the city and do your business. I'll
wait here for her until she turns up, and spank her
hard for frightening us all like this.”
Platt and I put on our hats and coats. We were just
shaking hands with Gretel, telling her to order herself
a good lunch from downstairs, when we heard the
latch-key put into the lock.
“There she is,” cried Gretel gaily. ‘‘ What babies
we have been!”
The door opened; but it was not Lou who came in.
It was Maisie Jacobs, and her face was stern and set.
She gave two quick formal bows to the others, took
my hand, and said in a deep, tense voice :-—
“You must come with me at once, Sir Peter. Lady
Pendragon needs you.”
I went white. Once again I had been brought back
from a complex chaos of conflicting emotions to the
bed-rock truth which had been buried so elaborately
and so often.
The deepest thing in myself was my love for my
wife. I resented the realisation, and yet I could not
bring myself to admit it. I asked, stupidly enough :
“Is anything wrong?” as if Maisie’s face, to say
nothing of her appearance, were not sufficient guarantee
of the seriousness of the situation.
“Come with me,” she repeated.
Gretel had been watching the dialogue like a cat.
She flashed forked lightning at Platt, thinking that his
fears might betray him into saying something irrevocably
stupid.
“‘ Of course, there’s only one thing to be done,” she
said hurriedly, summing the psychology of the situation
D.D.F. U