They came up to it very gently, and Eglantine peered round the garden, searching for the lawyer and the detective.
It seemed empty, and as she opened the gate she whispered: "We must roon quick!" They bolted across the garden to the back door, and as they reached it a man burst out of the bushes twenty yards on their left, and dashed at them.

Eglantine screamed, but she opened the door, dragged Pollyooly through it, slammed the door in the pursuer's face, and shot the bolt.
At the sound of the bang the duchess came flying through the lighted hall.

At the sight of Pollyooly she cried: "Thank goodness you've come!" Eglantine burst into an excited narrative of their journey and narrow escape from the watcher in the garden.
"Then he actually saw Mary Bride come into the house ?" cried the duchess joyfully, and she clapped her hands.
"But yes! Ever so plainly!" cried Eglantine.
"Good! Nothing could be better!" said the duchess.

"They'll think that Marion is in the house, and that's all I want." She kissed Pollyooly, thanked her for coming, asked if the journey had tired her very much, and led her into the dining-room, where a delicious supper awaited her.

As she ate it the duchess, watching her with an air of lively satisfaction, matured her plans.