mine, sir?'
'I have carefully refrained from thinking about it at all. Do you really wish to know?'
'But I have arranged it just as you did!'
'Good God!' said Sir Richard faintly. 'My poor deluded child!'
'You are teasing me! At least it was not ill enough tied to make you rip it off my neck as you did when you first met me!'
'You will recall that we left the inn in haste this morning,' he explained.
'I am persuaded that would not have weighed with you. But you put me in mind of a very important matter. You paid my reckoning there.'
'Don't let that worry you, I beg.'
'I am determined to pay everything for myself,' Pen said firmly. 'It would be a shocking piece of impropriety if I were to be beholden for money to a stranger.'
'True. I had not thought of that.'
She looked up with her sudden bright look of enquiry. 'You are laughing at me again!'
He showed her a perfectly grave countenance. 'Laughing? I?'
'I know very well you are. You may make your mouth prim, but I have noticed several times that you laugh with your eyes.'
'Do I? I beg your pardon!'
'Well, you need not, for I like it. I would not have come all this way with you if you had not had such smiling eyes. Isn't it odd how one knows if one can trust a person, even if he is drunk?'
'Very odd,' he said.
She was hunting fruitlessly through her pockets. 'Where can I have put my purse? Oh, I think I must have put it in my overcoat!'
She had flung this garment down on a chair, upon first entering the parlour, and stepped across the room to feel in the capacious pockets.
'Are you seriously proposing to count a few miserable shillings into my hand?'
'Yes, indeed I am. Oh, here it is!' She pulled out a leather purse with a ring round its neck, from one pocket, stared at it, and exclaimed: 'This is not my purse!'
Sir Richard looked at it through his glass. 'Isn't it? It is certainly not mine, I assure you.'
'It is very heavy. I wonder how it can have come into my pocket? Shall I open it?'
'By all means. Are you quite sure it is not your own?'
'Oh yes, quite!' She moved to the table, tugging at the ring. It was a little hard to pull off, but she managed it after one or two tugs, and shook out into the palm of her hand a diamond necklace that winked and glittered in the light of the candles.
'Richard!' gasped Miss Creed, startled into forgetting the proprieties again. 'Oh, I beg your pardon! But look!'
'I am looking, and you have no need to beg my pardon. I have been calling you Pen these two days.'
'Oh, that is another matter, because you are so much older!'
He looked at her somewhat enigmatically. 'Am I? Well, never mind. Do I understand that this gaud does not belong to you?'
'Good gracious, no! I never saw it before in my life!'
'Oh!' said Sir Richard. 'Well, it is always agreeable to have problems solved. Now we know why your friend Mr Yarde had no fear of the Bow Street Runner.'
Chapter 6
Pen let the necklace slip through her fingers on to the table. 'You mean that he stole it, and then—and then put it in my pocket? But, sir, this is terrible! Why—why, that Runner will next come after us!'
'I think it more likely that Mr Yarde will come after us.'
'Good God!' Pen said, quite pale with dismay. 'What are we to do?'
He smiled rather maliciously. 'Didn't you desire to meet with a real adventure?'
'Yes, but— Oh, do not be absurd and teasing, I beg of you! What shall we do with the necklace? Couldn't we throw it away somewhere, or hide it in a ditch?'
'We could, of course, but it would surely be a trifle unfair to the owner?'
'I don't care about that,' confessed Pen. 'It would be dreadful to be arrested for thieving, and I know we shall be!'
'Oh, I trust not!' Sir Richard said. He straightened the necklace, where it lay on the table, and looked down at it with a slight frown creasing his brow. 'Yes,' he said meditatively. 'I have seen you before. Now, where have I seen you before?'
'Do please put it away!' begged Pen. 'Only
'I have carefully refrained from thinking about it at all. Do you really wish to know?'
'But I have arranged it just as you did!'
'Good God!' said Sir Richard faintly. 'My poor deluded child!'
'You are teasing me! At least it was not ill enough tied to make you rip it off my neck as you did when you first met me!'
'You will recall that we left the inn in haste this morning,' he explained.
'I am persuaded that would not have weighed with you. But you put me in mind of a very important matter. You paid my reckoning there.'
'Don't let that worry you, I beg.'
'I am determined to pay everything for myself,' Pen said firmly. 'It would be a shocking piece of impropriety if I were to be beholden for money to a stranger.'
'True. I had not thought of that.'
She looked up with her sudden bright look of enquiry. 'You are laughing at me again!'
He showed her a perfectly grave countenance. 'Laughing? I?'
'I know very well you are. You may make your mouth prim, but I have noticed several times that you laugh with your eyes.'
'Do I? I beg your pardon!'
'Well, you need not, for I like it. I would not have come all this way with you if you had not had such smiling eyes. Isn't it odd how one knows if one can trust a person, even if he is drunk?'
'Very odd,' he said.
She was hunting fruitlessly through her pockets. 'Where can I have put my purse? Oh, I think I must have put it in my overcoat!'
She had flung this garment down on a chair, upon first entering the parlour, and stepped across the room to feel in the capacious pockets.
'Are you seriously proposing to count a few miserable shillings into my hand?'
'Yes, indeed I am. Oh, here it is!' She pulled out a leather purse with a ring round its neck, from one pocket, stared at it, and exclaimed: 'This is not my purse!'
Sir Richard looked at it through his glass. 'Isn't it? It is certainly not mine, I assure you.'
'It is very heavy. I wonder how it can have come into my pocket? Shall I open it?'
'By all means. Are you quite sure it is not your own?'
'Oh yes, quite!' She moved to the table, tugging at the ring. It was a little hard to pull off, but she managed it after one or two tugs, and shook out into the palm of her hand a diamond necklace that winked and glittered in the light of the candles.
'Richard!' gasped Miss Creed, startled into forgetting the proprieties again. 'Oh, I beg your pardon! But look!'
'I am looking, and you have no need to beg my pardon. I have been calling you Pen these two days.'
'Oh, that is another matter, because you are so much older!'
He looked at her somewhat enigmatically. 'Am I? Well, never mind. Do I understand that this gaud does not belong to you?'
'Good gracious, no! I never saw it before in my life!'
'Oh!' said Sir Richard. 'Well, it is always agreeable to have problems solved. Now we know why your friend Mr Yarde had no fear of the Bow Street Runner.'
Chapter 6
Pen let the necklace slip through her fingers on to the table. 'You mean that he stole it, and then—and then put it in my pocket? But, sir, this is terrible! Why—why, that Runner will next come after us!'
'I think it more likely that Mr Yarde will come after us.'
'Good God!' Pen said, quite pale with dismay. 'What are we to do?'
He smiled rather maliciously. 'Didn't you desire to meet with a real adventure?'
'Yes, but— Oh, do not be absurd and teasing, I beg of you! What shall we do with the necklace? Couldn't we throw it away somewhere, or hide it in a ditch?'
'We could, of course, but it would surely be a trifle unfair to the owner?'
'I don't care about that,' confessed Pen. 'It would be dreadful to be arrested for thieving, and I know we shall be!'
'Oh, I trust not!' Sir Richard said. He straightened the necklace, where it lay on the table, and looked down at it with a slight frown creasing his brow. 'Yes,' he said meditatively. 'I have seen you before. Now, where have I seen you before?'
'Do please put it away!' begged Pen. 'Only
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