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Page 73
No--not quite anything! He stopped short at the idea of causing
unpleasantness between the father of the Honorable Freddie and
the father of the Honorable Freddie's fiancee. His secretarial
position at the castle was a valuable one and he was loath to
jeopardize it.
There was only one way in which this delicate affair could be
brought to a satisfactory conclusion. It was obvious from what he
had seen that night that Mr. Peters' connection with the attempt
on the scarab was to be merely sympathetic, and that the actual
theft was to be accomplished by Ashe. His only course, therefore,
was to catch Ashe actually in the museum. Then Mr. Peters need
not appear in the matter at all. Mr. Peters' position in those
circumstances would be simply that of a man who had happened to
employ, through no fault of his own, a valet who happened to be a
thief.
He had made a mistake, he perceived, in locking the door of the
museum. In future he must leave it open, as a trap is open;
and he must stay up nights and keep watch. With these
reflections, the Efficient Baxter returned to his room.
Meantime Ashe had entered Mr. Peters' bedroom and switched on the
light. Mr. Peters, who had just succeeded in dropping off to
sleep, sat up with a start.
"I've come to read to you," said Ashe.
Mr. Peters emitted a stifled howl, in which wrath and self-pity
were nicely blended.
"You fool, don't you know I have just managed to get to sleep?"
"And now you're awake again," said Ashe soothingly. "Such is
life! A little rest, a little folding of the hands in sleep, and
then bing!--off we go again. I hope you will like this novel. I
dipped into it and it seems good."
"What do you mean by coming in here at this time of night? Are
you crazy?"
"It was your suggestion; and, by the way, I must thank you for
it. I apologize for calling it thin. It worked like a charm. I
don't think he believed it--in fact, I know he didn't; but it
held him. I couldn't have thought up anything half so good in an
emergency."
Mr. Peters' wrath changed to excitement.
"Did you get it? Have you been after my--my Cheops?"
"I have been after your Cheops, but I didn't get it. Bad men were
abroad. That fellow with the spectacles, who was in the museum
when I met you there this evening, swooped down from nowhere, and
I had to tell him that you had rung for me to read to you.
Fortunately I had this novel on me. I think he followed me
upstairs to see whether I really did come to your room."
Mr. Peters groaned miserably.
"Baxter," he said; "He's a man named Baxter--Lord Emsworth's
private secretary; and he suspects us. He's the man we--I mean
you--have got to look out for."
"Well, never mind. Let's be happy while we can. Make yourself
comfortable and I'll start reading. After all, what could be
pleasanter than a little literature in the small hours? Shall I
begin?"
* * *
Ashe Marson found Joan Valentine in the stable yard after
breakfast the next morning, playing with a retriever puppy. "Will
you spare me a moment of your valuable time?"
"Certainly, Mr. Marson."
"Shall we walk out into the open somewhere--where we can't be
overheard?"
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