"I don"t know. And now--"
The Prophet stepped back into the hall, and was about to close the door unceremoniously--having, as he intended, ceased to be a gentleman--when Lady Enid caught sight of the round and fixed eyes of Gustavus glaring out into the night from behind his master. The appalling feminine instinct, which makes woman the mistress of creation, suddenly woke within her, and she cried out in a piercing voice,--
"Malkiel"s in the house, and Gustavus knows it!"
She spoke these words with such conviction that the Prophet spun round, top-wise, and stared at the unfortunate flunkey, who instantly fell upon his knee-breeches and stammered out,--
"Oh, sir, forgive me! It"s Dr. Carter done it, sir, it is indeed. It"s Dr. Carter done it!"
"Dr. Carter!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the Prophet.
"The library, sir. He offered me the library eight times over, sir!"
"Who offered you the library?"
"The gent, sir, in Mr. Ferdinand"s trouserings, what was at dinner, sir.
He only wanted to change "em, sir, and he says to me, he says, "Let me,"
he says, "but remove these trouserings," he says, "before I make off to Java," he says--"
"To where?" roared Sir Tiglath.
"To Java, sir, where the jelly and the sparrows is manufactured, sir, that is born, sir. "And," he says, "here is a hundred pounds," he says."
"Then he is in the house?" said the Prophet, sternly.
"Well, sir, he was, sir. And, as I ain"t seen him go, sir, I expect as he"s somewhere about changing of "em, sir. Oh, sir, if you"ll only look it over sir, It"s all the thirst, sir, it"s all the thirst--"
"What? You have been drinking?" cried the Prophet, in an outraged manner.
"No, sir, the thirst for knowledge, sir, as has brought me to this. Oh, sir, if only you"ll--"
"Hush!" said the Prophet fiercely. "Sir Tiglath," he added, turning towards the puffing astronomer, "you can enter. My grandmother must have been right."
"Your grandmother?" said Lady Enid, with eager inquisitiveness.
"She informed me that the ruffian was in the house and had attempted to make away with her--"
"Dear me! this is most interesting!" interposed Lady Enid.
"But I supposed she had had the nightmare. It seems that I was wrong. If you will step in, you can search the house at once. And if you discover this nameless creature changing his--that is Mr. Ferdinand"s trouserings--trousers, that is,--in any part of the building, as far as I am concerned you can murder him forthwith."
The Prophet spoke quite calmly, in a soft and level voice. Yet there was something so frightful in his tone and manner that even Sir Tiglath seemed slightly awe-stricken. At any rate, he accepted the Prophet"s invitation in silence, and stepped almost furtively into the hall, on whose floor Gustavus was still posed in the conventional att.i.tude of the Christian martyr. Lady Enid eagerly followed, and the Prophet was just about to close the door, when a dark, hovering figure that was pausing at a short distance off upon the pavement attracted his attention. He stopped short, and, perceiving that it was a policeman, beckoned to it.
The figure approached.
"What"s up now?" it said familiarly, emphasising the question with a sharp contraction of the left eyelid. "You"re having a nice game to-night, and no mistake."
"Game!" replied the Prophet, sternly. "This is no game. Stand there, by the area gate, and if anyone should run out, knock him down with your truncheon. Do you hear me?"
With these impressive words he entered the house and shut the door, leaving the policeman to whistle inquiringly to the stars that were watching over this house, once peaceful, but now the abode of violence and tragedy.
In the hall he found Gustavus still on his knees between Lady Enid and Sir Tiglath.
"Lady Enid," he said, even in this hour mindful of the proprieties, "you have heard what this villain is doing here, and must be sensible that you can take no part in this search."
"Oh, but I particularly want--" began Lady Enid, hastily.
"Pardon me," said the Prophet, with more firmness than Napoleon ever showed to his marshals. "You must retire. Please come this way. Mrs.
Fancy will look after you."
"Oh, but really, Mr. Vivian, I--"
"Kindly follow me."
Lady Enid hesitated for a moment, but the Prophet"s manner was too much for her, and when he stepped, like a clockwork automaton with a steel interior, towards the staircase, she crept mildly in his wake.
"Can"t I really--?" she whispered in his ear.
"Certainly not. If you were a married woman, possibly--"
"Well, but I am engaged," she murmured.
The Prophet stopped short.
"Engaged!" he said. "To whom?"
"Sir Tiglath."
"Engaged to Sir Tiglath!"
"Yes. He proposed to me to-night at Zoological House."
"Why?"
She might well have resented the question, but perhaps she divined the distraught and almost maniacal condition of mind that the Prophet masked beneath his impa.s.sive demeanour. At any rate she answered frankly,--
"Because he didn"t find out I"m Miss Minerva, and in the midst of Mrs.
Bridgeman"s silly world I stood right out as the only sensible creature living. Isn"t it fun?"
"Fun!"
"Yes. I always meant him to propose to me."
"Why?"
"Because I always thought it would be supremely idiotic of me to accept him."
The Prophet felt that if he listened to another remark of such a nature his brain would snap and he would instantly be taken with a tearing fit of hysterics. He therefore turned round and slowly ascended to the first floor.