"First, that Mimi Watford should be taken away at once--then--"

"Yes?"

"The monster must be destroyed."

"Bravo! That is a true and fearless conclusion. At whatever cost, it
must be carried out."

"At once?"

"Soon, at all events. That creature's very existence is a danger. Her
presence in this neighbourhood makes the danger immediate."

As he spoke, Sir Nathaniel's mouth hardened and his eyebrows came down
till they met. There was no doubting his concurrence in the resolution,
or his readiness to help in carrying it out. But he was an elderly man
with much experience and knowledge of law and diplomacy. It seemed to
him to be a stern duty to prevent anything irrevocable taking place till
it had been thought out and all was ready. There were all sorts of legal
cruxes to be thought out, not only regarding the taking of life, even of
a monstrosity in human form, but also of property. Lady Arabella, be she
woman or snake or devil, owned the ground she moved in, according to
British law, and the law is jealous and swift to avenge wrongs done
within its ken. All such difficulties should be--must be--avoided for
Mr. Salton's sake, for Adam's own sake, and, most of all, for Mimi
Watford's sake.

Before he spoke again, Sir Nathaniel had made up his mind that he must
try to postpone decisive action until the circumstances on which they