Downstairs, in the dining-room, Jimmy was smoking cigarettes andreviewing in his mind the peculiarities of the situation, whenAnn came in.

　　"Oh, there you are," said Ann. "I thought you must have goneupstairs.""I have been having a delightful and entertaining conversationwith my old chum, Lord Wisbeach.""Good gracious! What about?""Oh, this and that.""Not about old times?""No, we did not touch upon old times.""Does he still believe that you are Jimmy Crocker? I'm sonervous," said Ann, "that I can hardly speak.""I shouldn't be nervous," said Jimmy encouragingly. "I don't seehow things could be going better.""That's what makes me nervous. Our luck is too good to last. Weare taking such risks. It would have been bad enough withoutSkinner and Lord Wisbeach. At any moment you may make some fatalslip. Thank goodness, aunt Nesta's suspicions have been squashedfor the time being now that Skinner and Lord Wisbeach haveaccepted you as genuine. But then you have only seen them for afew minutes. When they have been with you a little longer, theymay get suspicious themselves. I can't imagine how you managed tokeep it up with Lord Wisbeach. I should have thought he would becertain to say something about the time when you were supposed tobe friends in London. We simply mustn't strain our luck. I wantyou to go straight to aunt Nesta now and ask her to let Jerrycome back.""You still refuse to let me take Jerry's place?""Of course I do. You'll find aunt Nesta upstairs.""Very well. But suppose I can't persuade her to forgive Jerry?""I think she is certain to do anything you ask. You saw howfriendly she was to you at lunch. I don't see how anything canhave happened since lunch to change her.""Very well. I'll go to her now.""And when you have seen her, go to the library and wait for me.

　　It's the second room along the passage outside here. I havepromised to drive Lord Wisbeach down to his hotel in my car. Imet him outside just now and he tells me aunt Nesta has invitedhim to stay here, so he wants to go and get his things ready. Ishan't be twenty minutes. I shall come straight back."Jimmy found himself vaguely disquieted by this piece ofinformation.

　　"Lord Wisbeach is coming to stay here?""Yes. Why?""Oh, nothing. Well, I'll go and see Mrs. Pett."No traces of the disturbance which had temporarily ruffled thepeace of the drawing-room were to be observed when Jimmy reachedit. The receiver of the telephone was back on its hook, Mrs. Pettback in her chair, the dog Aida back in her basket. Mrs. Pett,her mind at ease now that she had taken the step of summoning Mr.

　　Sturgis, was reading a book, one of her own, and was absorbed init. The dog Aida slumbered noisily.

　　The sight of Jimmy, however, roused Mrs. Pett from her literarycalm. To her eye, after what Lord Wisbeach had revealed there wassomething sinister in the very way in which he walked into theroom. He made her flesh creep. In "A Society Thug" (Mobbs andStifien, $1.35 net, all rights of translation reserved, includingthe Scandinavian) she had portrayed just such a man--smooth,specious, and formidable. Instinctively, as she watched Jimmy,her mind went back to the perfectly rotten behaviour of her ownMarsden Tuke (it was only in the last chapter but one that theymanaged to foil his outrageous machinations), and it seemed toher that here was Tuke in the flesh. She had pictured him, sheremembered, as a man of agreeable exterior, the better calculatedto deceive and undo the virtuous; and the fact that Jimmy was apresentable-looking young man only made him appear viler in hereyes. In a word, she could hardly have been in less suitableframe of mind to receive graciously any kind of a request fromhim. She would have suspected ulterior motives if he had askedher the time.