And just as she murmured the word “do,” there came a loud double knock on the front door.

It was only the postman’s knock, but the postman was an unfamiliar visitor in that house, and Mrs. Bunting started violently.  She was nervous, that’s what was the matter with her,—­so she told herself angrily.  No doubt this was a letter for Mr. Sleuth; the lodger must have relations and acquaintances somewhere in the world.  All gentlefolk have.  But when she picked the small envelope off the hall floor, she saw it was a letter from Daisy, her husband’s daughter.

“Bunting!” she called out sharply.  “Here’s a letter for you.”

She opened the door of their sitting-room and looked in.  Yes, there was her husband, sitting back comfortably in his easy chair, reading a paper.  And as she saw his broad, rather rounded back, Mrs. Bunting felt a sudden thrill of sharp irritation.  There he was, doing nothing—­in fact, doing worse than nothing—­wasting his time reading all about those horrid crimes.

She sighed—­a long, unconscious sigh.  Bunting was getting into idle ways, bad ways for a man of his years.  But how could she prevent it?  He had been such an active, conscientious sort of man when they had first made acquaintance. . .

She also could remember, even more clearly than Bunting did himself, that first meeting of theirs in the dining-room of No. 90 Cumberland Terrace.  As she had stood there, pouring out her mistress’s glass of port wine, she had not been too much absorbed in her task to have a good out-of-her-eye look at the spruce, nice, respectable-looking fellow who was standing over by the window.  How superior he had appeared even then to the man she already hoped he would succeed as butler!

To-day, perhaps because she was not feeling quite herself, the past rose before her very vividly, and a lump came into her throat.

Putting the letter addressed to her husband on the table, she closed the door softly, and went down into the kitchen; there were various little things to put away and clean up, as well as their dinner to cook.  And all the time she was down there she fixed her mind obstinately, determinedly on Bunting and on the problem of Bunting.  She wondered what she’d better do to get him into good ways again.

Thanks to Mr. Sleuth, their outlook was now moderately bright.  A week ago everything had seemed utterly hopeless.  It seemed as if nothing could save them from disaster.  But everything was now changed!

Perhaps it would be well for her to go and see the new proprietor of that registry office, in Baker Street, which had lately changed hands.  It would be a good thing for Bunting to get even an occasional job—­for the matter of that he could now take up a fairly regular thing in the way of waiting.  Mrs. Bunting knew that it isn’t easy to get a man out of idle ways once he has acquired those ways.

When, at last, she went upstairs again she felt a little ashamed of what she had been thinking, for Bunting had laid the cloth, and laid it very nicely, too, and brought up the two chairs to the table.