if I say I think it seems more like foolhardy stubbornness!"

Dale turned away from the window. "Then you think there is really
danger?"

The Doctor's eyes were grave.

"Well--those letters--" he dropped the letter on the table.
"They mean something. Here you are--isolated the village two
miles away--and enough shrubbery round the place to hide a
dozen assassins--"

If his manner had been in the slightest degree melodramatic, Dale
would have found the ominous sentences more easy to discount. But
this calm, intent statement of fact was a chill touch at her heart.
And yet--

"But what enemies can Aunt Cornelia have?" she asked helplessly.

"Any man will tell you what I do," said the Doctor with increasing
seriousness. He took a cigarette from his case and tapped it on
the case to emphasize his words. "This is no place for two women,
practically alone."

Dale moved away from him restlessly, to warm her hands at the fire.
The Doctor gave a quick glance around the room. Then, unseen by her,
he stepped noiselessly over to the table, took the matchbox there
off its holder and slipped it into his pocket. It seemed a curiously
useless and meaningless gesture, but his next words evinced that the
action had been deliberate.