"I shall report you to the commander-in-chief himself unless you search it," she said, looking at me steadily.
There could be no mistake; her manner and her tone alike indicated decision, and that I must obey. Yet I did not withhold these words,--
"I know that you are a Tory, Miss Desmond, but I did not think that you would go to such extremes."
She made no reply, and surrendering all hope for Marcel and myself, I turned the bolt and threw open the little door of the alcove.
I stood still, too much surprised to speak; relief, at that moment, not having any part in my emotions, although it came later.
"You know now, Lieutenant Melville, that your belief is as false as it was unjust," said Miss Desmond, proudly. "You have wronged my father."
"It is true," I confessed; and I confessed too, though not aloud, that perhaps I had wronged some one else yet more. Then I called to Blathwayt and censured him for overlooking the alcove.
"The fugitive might have lain there safely hidden from all of us," I said, "but I saw the place, and perhaps we may find others like it."
He admitted his error humbly, and we passed to the other floors. Here the feeling of relief disappeared from my mind, as we would surely find Alloway near the roof since he was not in the cellar. We searched three rooms, and then I put my hand upon the bolt fastening the door of the third.
"I regret to say that I am compelled to search it too," I replied.
She bowed, making no further opposition, and, turning the key, I entered. It was a large, light apartment. In a corner the high bed stood within its white curtains, there were heavy rugs on the floor, a little round table of ebony, and at the far end of the room, tongs and shovel of brass hung beside the grate, in which two brazen fire dogs upheld haughty heads. It was a handsome room, worthy of its mistress, and yet I could not spare it. I looked everywhere,--behind the curtains, under the bed, and in the clothes-closets,--but I did not find Alloway.
When I finished Miss Desmond said to me,--
"I hope you believe that no man is concealed in my room."
The color had risen in her cheeks, and I replied in great haste,--
"I have not believed it any time, Miss Desmond, and only my duty compelled me to look here."