"I can see it was a pure accident," Gifford answered. "All the same it
was an accident with an ugly look about it, and I quickly realized that I
was in an equivocal--not to say dangerous, situation."
"It was a terrible predicament for you," the girl said sympathetically.
"It was indeed. And one which called for prompt action. Moreover the very
fact that I was not in evening clothes made it all the more suspicious. I
pulled my wits together and proceeded to make quite sure that the man was
actually dead. That I found was beyond all doubt the case, and it now
remained for me to make my escape before being found there in that
hideous situation.
"I went out to the landing, closing the door after me, with the idea of
getting down the stairs and escaping into the garden as secretly as I had
come in. I had crept down a very few stairs when I found this was not to
be. A chatter of voices just below told me that people were in the tower,
and leaning over I could see couples passing between the passage to the
hall and the room below me.
"At any moment, I realized, some of them might take it into their heads
to explore the topmost room, when the result would be disastrous.
Pages:
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201