daughter's laughing greeting from the garden, and from the
landing above her, a faint 'Ah, and how are we now?' broke out
simultaneously. And Ada, silent and discreet, had thrown open the
door again to the twilight and to the young people ascending the
steps.

Lawford was still sitting on his bed before a cold and ashy
hearth when Sheila knocked at the door.

'Yes?' he said; 'who's there?' No answer followed. He rose with a
shuddering sigh and turned the key. His wife entered.

'That little exhibition of finesse was part of our agreement, I
suppose?'

'I say--' began Lawford.

'To creep out in my absence like a thief, and to return like a
mountebank; that was part of our compact?'

'I say,' he stubbornly began again, 'did you wire for Alice?'

'Will you please answer my question? Am I to be a mere catspaw in
your intrigues, in this miserable masquerade before the servants?
To set the whole place ringing with the name of a doctor that
doesn't exist, and a bedridden patient that slips out of the
house with his bedroom key in his pocket! Are you aware that Ada
has been hammering at your door every half-hour of your absence?
Are you aware of that? How much,' she continued in a low, bitter
voice, 'how much should I offer for her discretion?'