h's position in the doorway it was impossible to do so,
except by pushing her aside.

She rejoiced, however, in the order to put on the light in the corridor,
for this meant that after settling her mistress in bed and transferring
the dining-room coal scuttle to the bedroom she must return to switch the
electricity off. Then, with Mrs. Ellsworth out of the way, she could help
the man upstairs to escape, if the watchers had abandoned the game.

The tyrant, shuffling along in heelless woollen slippers, made the most
of her infirmity, and hung on the arm of her tall companion. In silence
they passed through the baize door at the end of the corridor, so into
the addition at the back of the house, which contained Mrs. Ellsworth's
room and bath, with another small room suitable for a maid, and occupied
by Annesley. This addition had been built a year or two before Annesley's
arrival, and saved Mrs. Ellsworth the necessity of mounting and
descending the stairs, as she used the dining room to sit in and seldom
went into the drawing room on the floor above. Annesley was not surprised
to see that the fire in her mistress's room was still a bank of glowing
coals, for one of Mrs. Ellsworth's pleasures was to represent herself in
the light of a martyr. The girl made no remark, however: she was far too
experienced for such mistakes in tact.

Still in silence, she peeled the stout figure of its dressing gown and
helped it into a short, knitted bed-jacket.

"When you get the dining-room scuttle, put out the light there and in the
corridor," Mrs. Ellsworth said. "If you leave this door open you can see
your way with the coals. No use your creaking back and forth just as I've
settled down to rest. Besides, there's somebody else to think of. I hope
he hasn't been disturbed already!"

"Somebody else?" echoed the girl with a gasp. There was no longer any
fear that her curiosity had not caught fire. Mrs. Ellsworth was
satisfied.

"Yes, somebody else," she condescended to repeat. "A certain person has
come since you went out. I suppose, _in the circumstances_, you do not
need to be told _who_."

"I--I don't know what you mean by 'in the circumstances'," Annesley
stammered.

"That's not intelligent of you, considering where you have spent the
evening," sneered Mrs. Ellsworth.

Annesley's ears tingled as if they had been boxed. Could it be that Mrs.
Ellsworth knew of the trick played on her--knew that her companion had
not been to th