s secretary, and it's the kind of
thing he'll do very well. He's a tactful young fellow."

"It would be a blessing if he did," said Elizabeth with a sigh.
She paused and added: "You do speak differently about him to what
you used to."

"Yes. I made a mistake about him like as I did about some other people,"
said James Hutchings, with a rather shame-faced air. "He behaved very
well about seeing me here the night the master was murdered and saying
nothing to the police about it. An' then he congratulated me very
handsomelike on coming back as butler before Mr. Flexen."

"He would do it better than I should," said Elizabeth.

"Then I'll speak to him about it," said James Hutchings.

He paused a while to kiss Elizabeth, then went in search of Mr. Manley.
He learned from Holloway that he had come in about twenty minutes earlier
and was in his sitting-room. He went to him and found him looking through
the MS. of the play he was writing, with an unlighted pipe in his mouth.

"If you please, sir, I thought I'd better come and tell you that they're
saying in the village that Colonel Grey kissed her ladyship in the East
wood on the afternoon of his lordship's death, and his lordship was
informed of it and quarrelled with Colonel Grey and then her ladyship,
and she and Colonel Grey made away with his lordship," said James
Hutchings.

"I've heard something about it," said Mr. Manley, frowning, and he struck
a match. "Who set this absurd story going?"

"William Roper, one of the under-gamekeepers, sir."

"William Roper? Ah, I know--a ferret-faced young fellow."

"Yes, sir. And we was thinking that her ladyship ought to know about it
so as she can put a stop to it at once, and you were the proper person to
tell her, sir," said James Hutchings.

On the instant Mr. Manley saw himself discharging this unpleasant but
important duty with intelligence and tact, and he said readily: "I was
thinking of doing so, and now that I know the lying rascal's name I can
do it at once. The sooner this kind of thing is stopped the better."

"Thank you, sir," said Hutchings, and with a sigh of relief he
left the room.

He had reached the top of the stairs when the door of Mr. Manley's room
opened; he appeared on the threshold and said: "Will you send some one to
tell William Roper to be here at nine o'clock tonight? And it wouldn't be
a bad idea to drop a hint to any one you send that William Roper has got
himself into serious trouble."