When she and the carpet had gone in and the door was shut Anthea said-- 'Don't let's burgle--I mean do daring and dashing rescue acts--till we've given her a chance.

Let's ring and ask to see her.' The others hated to do this, but at last they agreed, on condition that Anthea would not make any silly fuss about the burglary afterwards, if it really had to come to that.
So they knocked and rang, and a scared-looking parlourmaid opened the front door.

While they were asking for Mrs Biddle they saw her.

She was in the dining-room, and she had already pushed back the table and spread out the carpet to see how it looked on the floor.
'I knew she didn't want it for her servants' bedroom,' Jane muttered.
Anthea walked straight past the uncomfortable parlourmaid, and the others followed her.

Mrs Biddle had her back to them, and was smoothing down the carpet with the same boot that had trampled on the hand of Robert.