And so by
two o'clock she had arrayed herself in a neat and unobtrusive
tailor-made travelling costume, had put on an equally neat and plain
hat, had rolled her umbrella, and laid it, her gloves, and a cloak where
they could be readily picked up, and had attached to her slim waist a
hand-bag--by means of a steel chain which she secured by a small padlock
as soon as she had arranged it to her satisfaction. She was not the sort
of woman to leave a hand-bag lying about in a railway carriage at any
time, but in this particular instance she was not going to run any risk
of even a moment's forgetfulness.
Everything was in readiness by twenty minutes past two, and she took up
her position in a window from which she could see the front door of the
house. At half-past two the carriage and its two fine bay horses came
round from the stables; a minute or two later Nesta Mallathorpe emerged
from the hall; yet another minute and the carriage was whirling down the
park in the direction of Barford. And then Esther moved from the window,
picked up the umbrella, the cloak, the gloves, and went off in the
direction of the room wherein she had left Pratt.
No one ever went near those old rooms except on some special errand or
business, and there was a dead silence all around her as she turned the
key in the lock and slipped inside the door--to lock it again as soon as
she had entered.
Pages:
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279