Griggs then turned out the lights, and went quietly back through the library to the other part of the house to find Lady Maud.

Logotheti, having meanwhile made the upper door perfectly secure, descended by the open staircase to the hall, and sent the first footman he met to call the butler, with whom he said he wished to speak.  The butler came at once.

‘Lady Maud asked me to see those three men,’ said Logotheti in a low tone.  ’Mr. Griggs and I are convinced that they are lunatics escaped from the asylum, and we have locked them up securely in the staircase beyond the study.’

‘Yes, sir,’ said the butler, as if Logotheti had been explaining how he wished his shoe-leather to be treated.

’I think you had better telephone for the doctor, and explain everything to him over the wire without speaking to Lord Creedmore just yet.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘How long will it take the doctor to get here?’

‘Perhaps an hour, sir, if he’s at home.  Couldn’t say precisely, sir.’

’Very good.  There is no hurry; and of course her ladyship will be particularly anxious that none of her friends should guess what has happened; you see there would be a general panic if it were known that there are escaped lunatics in the house.’

‘Yes, sir.’

’Perhaps you had better take a couple of men you can trust, and pile up some more furniture against the doors, above and below.  One cannot be too much on the safe side in such cases.’

‘Yes, sir.  I’ll do it at once, sir.’

Logotheti strolled back towards the gallery in a very unconcerned way.  As for the warrant, he had burnt it in the empty fireplace in Griggs’ room after making all secure, and had dusted down the black ashes so carefully that they had quite disappeared under the grate.  After all, as the doctor would arrive in the firm expectation of finding three escaped madmen under lock and key, the Scotland Yard men might, have some difficulty in proving themselves sane until they could communicate with their headquarters, and by that time Mr. Van Torp could be far on his way if he chose.

When Logotheti reached the door of the drawing-room, Margaret was finishing Rosina’s Cavatina from the Barbiere di Siviglia in a perfect storm of fireworks, having transposed the whole piece two notes higher to suit her own voice, for it was originally written for a mezzo-soprano.

Lady Maud and Van Torp had gone out upon the terrace unnoticed a moment before Margaret had begun to sing.  The evening was still and cloudless, and presently the purple twilight would pale under the summer moon, and the garden and the lawns would be once more as bright as day.  The friends walked quickly, for Lady Maud set the pace and led Van Torp toward the trees, where the stables stood, quite hidden from the house.  As soon as she reached the shade she stood still and spoke in a low voice.