The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith — John Shaqi
The Astonishing Adventure of Jane SmithWentworth, Patricia
General
The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith
Wentworth, Patricia
Adventure stories; Cousins -- Fiction; Detective and mystery stories
“I think I had better,” said Jane. “You see, I saw Renata, and she told
me things, and I think, if you don’t mind, Henry, that I had better tell
you everything that she told me.”
“Yes, please.” He hesitated. “One minute, Jane, I just wanted to say,
you don’t mind talking to me like this, do you? I wouldn’t have asked
you to if there had been any other way—what I mean to say is....”
Jane gave a very small laugh, which was instantly repressed. She
reflected that it was pleasanter to suppress a laugh than a scream.
“What you mean to say is, there aren’t any chaperons in this scene. You
needn’t apologise, Henry. Sleuths never have chaperons—it’s simply not
done; and, anyhow, I’m sure you’d make a beautiful one. Shall I go on?”
It may be doubted whether Henry really cared about being described as a
chaperon. His tone was rather dry as he said:
“Go on, please.”
As for Jane, who had prodded him on purpose just to see if anything
would happen, she certainly felt a slight disappointment accompanied by
a sense of increased respect.
“You saw Renata. What did she tell you?”
“She told me what she overheard,” said Jane, speaking slowly. “Henry, if
I tell you what it was, will you promise me not to let any one guess
that you know? If they were certain that I knew, I shouldn’t be alive
to-morrow; and if they thought you knew the secret, you’d never get back
to London alive.”
“Who is ‘they,’ Jane?” said Henry.
“I want to tell you about Renata first. She really did walk in her
sleep, you know. She must have waked when she opened the door. She said
the first thing she knew was the cold feel of the hall linoleum under
her feet. The door was open, and she was standing just on the threshold.
There was a screen in front of her, and beyond the screen a man talking.
She heard every word he said, and I am sure that what she repeated to me
was just exactly what she heard. The first words that she caught were
‘Formula “A.”’”
Henry gave a violent start.
“Good Lord!” he said under his breath. “You’re sure?”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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