And this promised best.... But nowadays,
really, one is never safe from intrusion anywhere."
"You are cruel, Hilda!"
"Oh, no. You deserve it. I asked you not to come--and you came in spite
of me. I have treated you very nicely under the circumstances, I think.
I have behaved like an angel. The question is now, what ought I to do
next? You have upset my plans so."
"Upset your plans? How?"
"Dear Hubert,"--she turned to me with an indulgent smile,--"for a clever
man, you are really TOO foolish! Can't you see that you have betrayed my
whereabouts to Sebastian? _I_ crept away secretly, like a thief in the
night, giving no name or place; and, having the world to ransack, he
might have found it hard to track me; for HE had not YOUR clue of the
Basingstoke letter--nor your reason for seeking me. But now that YOU
have followed me openly, with your name blazoned forth in the company's
passenger-lists, and your traces left plain in hotels and stages across
the map of South Africa--why, the spoor is easy. If Sebastian cares to
find us, he can follow the scent all through without trouble."
"I never thought of that!" I cried, aghast.
She was forbearance itself.
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