"Yes, I think so. I suppose it will soon be time to dress for dinner."

We entered the house together. Madame Fosco strolled into the library,
and closed the door. I went at once to fetch my hat and shawl. Every
moment was of importance, if I was to get to Fanny at the inn and be
back before dinner.

When I crossed the hall again no one was there, and the singing of the
birds in the library had ceased. I could not stop to make any fresh
investigations. I could only assure myself that the way was clear, and
then leave the house with the two letters safe in my pocket.

On my way to the village I prepared myself for the possibility of
meeting Sir Percival. As long as I had him to deal with alone I felt
certain of not losing my presence of mind. Any woman who is sure of
her own wits is a match at any time for a man who is not sure of his
own temper. I had no such fear of Sir Percival as I had of the Count.
Instead of fluttering, it had composed me, to hear of the errand on
which he had gone out. While the tracing of Anne Catherick was the
great anxiety that occupied him, Laura and I might hope for some
cessation of any active persecution at his hands. For our sakes now,
as well as for Anne's, I hoped and prayed fervently that she might
still escape him.

I walked on as briskly as the heat would let me till I reached the
cross-road which led to the village, looking back from time to time to
make sure that I was not followed by any one.

Nothing was behind me all the way but an empty country waggon. The
noise made by the lumbering wheels annoyed me, and when I found that
the waggon took the road to the village, as well as myself, I stopped
to let it go by and pass out of hearing. As I looked toward it, more
attentively than before, I thought I detected at intervals the feet of
a man walking close behind it, the carter being in front, by the side
of his horses. The part of the cross-road which I had just passed over
was so narrow that the waggon coming after me brushed the trees and
thickets on either side, and I had to wait until it went by before I
could test the correctness of my impression. Apparently that
impression was wrong, for when the waggon had passed me the road behind
it was quite clear.

I reached the inn without meeting Sir Percival, and without noticing
anything more, and was glad to find that the landlady had received
Fanny with all possible kindness. The girl had a little parlour to sit