‘It was much worse before you arrived, madam,’ said the butler, disappointed that his exertions with mop, floor-cloth, scrubbing-brush, and pail were being so scantily recognized. ‘You could have sailed a boat on it. Mr. Antony, he—’

‘Oh, has he arrived? Antony’s here, isn’t that splendid?’

‘Antony!’ they all shouted. ‘Come out! Come down! Where are you?’

‘I bet he’s asleep, the lazy devil,’ remarked Ronald.

‘No, sir,’ said the butler, at last able to make himself heard. ‘Mr. Antony’s in the drawing-room with a lady.’

Mrs. Ampleforth’s voice broke the silence that succeeded this announcement.

‘With a lady, Rundle? Are you sure?’

‘Well, madam, she’s hardly more than a girl.’

‘I always thought Antony was that sort of man,’ observed Ronald. ‘Maggie, you’d better—’

‘It’s too odd,’ interposed Mrs. Ampleforth hastily, ‘Who in the world can she be?’

‘I don’t see there’s anything odd in someone calling on us,’ said Mr. Ampleforth. ‘What’s her name, Rundle?’

‘She didn’t give a name, sir.’

‘That is rather extraordinary. Antony is so impulsive and kind-hearted. I hope—ah, here he is.’

Antony came towards them along the passage, smiling and waving his hands. When the welcoming and hand-shaking were over:

‘We were told you had a visitor,’ said Mrs. Ampleforth.

‘Yes,’ said Ronald. ‘I’m afraid we arrived at the wrong moment.’

Antony laughed and then looked puzzled. ‘Believe me, you didn’t,’ he said. ‘You almost saved my life. She speaks such a queer dialect when she speaks at all, and I had reached the end of my small talk. But she’s rather interesting. Do come along and see her: I left her in the library.’ They followed Antony down the passage. When they reached the door he said to Mrs. Ampleforth:

‘Shall I go in first? She may be shy at meeting so many people.’

He went in. A moment later they heard his voice raised in excitement.

‘Mildred! I can’t find her! She’s gone!’

Tea had been cleared away, but Antony’s strange visitor was still the topic of conversation. ‘I can’t understand it,’ he was saying, not for the first time. ‘The windows were shut, and if she’d gone by the door we must have seen her.’

‘Now, Antony,’ said Ronald severely, ‘let’s hear the whole story again. Remember, you are accused of smuggling into the house a female of doubtful reputation. Furthermore the prosecution alleges that when you heard us call (we were shouting ourselves hoarse, but he didn’t come at once, you remember) you popped her out of that window and came out to meet us, smiling sheepishly, and feebly gesticulating. What do you say?’

‘I’ve told you everything,’ said Antony. ‘I went to the door and found her leaning against the stonework. Her eyes were shut. She didn’t move and I thought she must be ill. So I said, “Is anything the matter?” and she looked up and said, “My leg hurts.” Then I saw by the way she was standing that her hip must have been broken once and never properly set. I asked her where she lived, and she didn’t seem to understand me; so I changed the form of the question, as one does on the telephone, and asked where she came from, and she said, “A little further down,” meaning down the hill, I suppose.’

‘Probably from one of the men’s cottages,’ said Mr. Ampleforth.

‘I asked if it was far, and she said “No,” which was obvious, otherwise her clothes would have been wet and they weren’t, only a little muddy. She even had some mud on her mediæval bridesmaid’s headdress (I can’t describe her clothes again, Mildred; you know how bad I am at that). So I asked if she’d had a fall, and she said, “No, she got dirty coming up,” or so I understood her. It wasn’t easy to understand her; I suppose she talked the dialect of these parts. I concluded (you all say you would have known long before) that she was a little mad, but I didn’t like to leave her looking so rotten, so I said, “Won’t you come in and rest a minute?” Then I wished I hadn’t.’

‘Because she looked so pleased?’

‘Oh, much more than pleased. And she said, “I hope you won’t live to regret it,” rather as though she hoped I should. And then I only meant just to take her hand, because of the water, you know, and she was lame—’

‘And instead she flung herself into the poor fellow’s arms—’

‘Well, it amounted to that. I had no option! So I carried her across and put her down and she followed me here, walking better than I expected. A minute later you arrived. I asked her to wait and she didn’t. That’s all’

‘I should like to have seen Antony doing the St. Christopher act!’ said Ronald. ‘Was she heavy, old boy?’

Antony shifted in his chair. ‘Oh no,’ he said, ‘not at all. Not at all heavy.’ Unconsciously he stretched his arms out in front of him, as though testing an imaginary weight. ‘I see my hands are grubby,’ he said with an expression of distaste. ‘I must go and wash them. I won’t be a moment, Maggie.’

That night, after dinner, there was some animated conversation in the servants’ hall.

‘Did you hear any more, Mr. Rundle?’ asked a house-maid of the butler, who had returned from performing his final office at the dinner-table.

‘I did,’ said Rundle, ‘but I don’t know that I ought to tell you.’

‘It won’t make any difference, Mr. Rundle, whether you do or don’t. I’m going to give in my notice to-morrow. I won’t stay in a haunted house. We’ve been lured here. We ought to have been warned.’

‘They certainly meant to keep it from us,’ said Rundle. ‘I myself had put two and two together after seeing Lady Elinor; what Wilkins said when he came in for his tea only confirmed my suspicions. No gardener can ever keep a still tongue in his head. It’s a pity.

‘Wouldn’t you have told us yourself, Mr. Rundle?’ asked the cook.

‘I should have used my discretion,’ the butler replied. ‘When I informed Mr. Ampleforth that I was no longer in ignorance, he said, “I rely on you, Rundle, not to say anything which might alarm the staff.” ’

‘Mean, I call it,’ exclaimed the kitchen-maid indignantly. ‘They want to have all the fun and leave us to die like rats in a trap.’

Rundle ignored the interruption.

‘I told Mr. Ampleforth that Wilkins had been tale-bearing and would he excuse it in an outdoor servant, but unfortunately we were now in possession of the facts.’

‘That’s why they talked about it at dinner,’ said the maid who helped Rundle to wait.

‘They didn’t really throw the mask off till after you’d gone, Lizzie,’ said the butler. ‘Then I began to take part in the conversation.’

He paused for a moment.

‘Mr. Ampleforth asked me whether anything was missing from the house, and I was able to reply, “No, everything was in order.” ’

‘What else did you say?’ inquired the cook.

‘I made the remark that the library window wasn’t fastened, as they thought, but only closed, and Mrs. Turnbull laughed and said, “Perhaps it’s only a thief, after all,” but the others didn’t think she could have got through the window anyhow, unless her lameness was all put on. And then I told them what the police had said about looking out for a suspicious character.’

‘Did they seem frightened?’ asked the cook.

‘Not noticeably,’ replied the butler. ‘Mrs. Turnbull said she hoped the gentlemen wouldn’t stay long over their port. Mr. Ampleforth said, “No, they had had a full day, and would be glad to go to bed.” Mrs. Ampleforth asked Miss Winthrop if she wanted to change her bedroom, but she said she didn’t. Then Mr. Fairfield asked if he could have some iodine for his hand, and Miss Winthrop said she would fetch him some. She wanted to bring it after dinner, but he said, “Oh, to-morrow morning will do, darling.” He seemed rather quiet.’

‘What’s he done to his hand?’

‘I saw the mark when he took his coffee. It was like a burn.’