true; but, even had you not said so, I should have felt there was
something else. What was it brought you to that window? Your story
was straight-forward enough, but it was certainly singular your
happening to be there, and I fancy some of our friends thought that
you had gone round to listen, yourself. One hinted as much; but I
said that was absurd, for you were completely in my confidence, and
that, whatever peril and danger there might be in the enterprise,
you would share them with me."

"It is not pleasant that they should have thought so, father, but
that is better than that the truth should be known. This is how it
happened;" and he repeated what Ciceley had told him in the garden.

"So the worthy Master John Dormay has set a spy upon me," Sir
Marmaduke said, bitterly. "I knew the man was a knave--that is
public property--but I did not think that he was capable of this.
Well, I am glad that, at any rate, no suspicion can fall upon
Ciceley in the matter; but it is serious, lad, very serious. We do
not know how long this fellow has been prying and listening, or how
much he may have learnt. I don't think it can be much. We talked it
over, and my friends all agreed with me that they do not remember
those curtains having been drawn before. To begin with, the
evenings are shortening fast, and, at our meeting last week, we
finished our supper by daylight; and, had the curtains been drawn,
it would have been noticed, for we had need of light before we
finished. Two of the gentlemen, who were sitting facing the window,
declared that they remembered distinctly that it was open. Mr.
Jervoise says that he thought to himself that, if it was his place,
he would have the trees cut away there, for they shut out the
light.