If he told her of the theft of the papyrus, and
explained the few details he possessed with regard to von Kerber's
declared enemy, he would only add fuel to the distrust already planted
in her heart. That would achieve no tangible good, while no casuistry
would wipe away the stain on his own honor. So here was he, burning
with desire to assure her of his devotion, forced into silent pact with
the very conspiracy she was denouncing.
She attributed his sudden gruffness to a distaste for hearing his
exploits lauded.
"At any rate, you now understand my motive for speaking so plainly, Mr.
Royson," she went on. "You may feel bound by your arrangement with the
Baron, and I have no fault to find on that score, but I am quite,
certain, since I have learnt who you are, that you will not lend
yourself to any discreditable plan which may be in the minds of the
remarkable pair who are now looking at us, and wondering, no doubt,
what we are discussing so earnestly."
Royson saw that von Kerber and Mrs. Haxton were awaiting them at the
door of the post-office, but the personal allusion to himself, which
Miss Fenshawe had dropped, in parenthesis as it were, into her
concluding sentence, demanded a question.
Pages:
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167