And then I began to recall her brisk eye and capable air, and the idiot theory resolved into space. Only one alternative seemed left. She must be spying upon us, and aware of my presence all the time! But if so, what could I do? I felt even more helpless than I did that first night when my motor-cycle broke down. I could only sit and wait, revolver in hand.
When I heard Tiel's step at last on the stairs, I confess that my nerves were not at their best.
"What do you mean?" he asked quietly, and I am bound to say this of Tiel, that there is something very reassuring in his calm voice.
I told him hurriedly. He looked at me for a moment, began to smile, and then checked himself.
"I owe you an apology, Belke," he said. "I ought to have explained that that woman is in my pay."
"In your pay?" I cried. "And she has been so all the time?"
"And yet you never told me, but let me hide up in this room like a rat in a hole?"
"The truth is," he replied, "that till I had got to know you pretty well, I was afraid you might be rash--or at least careless, if you knew that woman was one of us."
"So you treated me like an infant, Mr Tiel?"
"The life I have lived," said Tiel quietly, "has not been conducive to creating a feeling of confidence in my fellowmen's discretion--until I _know_ them. I know you now, and I feel sorry I took this precaution. Please accept my apologies."
"I accept your apology," I said stiffly; "but in future, Mr Tiel, things will be pleasanter if you trust me."
"We have a visitor coming this afternoon to stay with us."
"Ah, here she is," said Tiel, going to the door. "Come down and be introduced whenever you like."
For a moment I stood stock still, lost in doubt and wonder.
My feelings as I approached the parlour were anything but happy. Some voice seemed to warn me that I was in the presence of something sinister, that some unknown peril stalked at my elbow. This third party--this "she"--filled me with forebodings. If ever anybody had a presentiment, I had one, and all I can say now is that within thirty seconds of opening the parlour door, I had ceased to believe in presentiments, entirely and finally. The vision I beheld nearly took my breath away.
"Let me introduce you to my sister, Miss Burnett," said Tiel. "She is so devoted to her brother that she has insisted on coming to look after him for the few days he is forced to spend in this lonely manse."