"Well, don't jiggle it like that," came the voice of Mr. Bramble from below. "We can't hold it steady if you're going to _dance_ on it." Mr. Chambers once more directed his remarks to Mr. Trotter. "So far as I am aware, Lord Temple, there is no--er--charge against you. The only complaint I know of is that you haven't kept your grandfather informed as to your whereabouts. Naturally he is a bit annoyed about it. You see, if you had dropped him a line occasionally--" "Get on, man,--get on," urged Trotter excitedly. "He wouldn't have been put to the expense of having a man detached from Scotland Yard to look the world over for you. Personal influence did it, of course. He went direct to the chief and asked for the best man in the service. I happened to be on another case at the time," explained Mr. Chambers modestly, "but they took me off at once and started me out. I--" "In a nutshell, you represent my grandfather and not the King of England," interrupted Trotter. "On detached duty," said Mr. Chambers. "And you do not intend to arrest him?" cried Lady Jane. "Bless me, no!" exclaimed Mr. Chambers. "Then, what the deuce do you mean by frightening Miss Emsdale and my friends downstairs?" demanded Lord Fenlew's grandson. "Couldn't you have said in the beginning that there was no criminal charge against me?" "I hadn't the remotest idea, your lordship, that any one suspected you of crime," said Mr. Chambers, with dignity. "But, confound you, why didn't you explain the situation to Bramble? That was the sensible,--yes, the intelligent thing to do, Mr. Chambers." "That is precisely what I did, your lordship, while we were at dinner,--we had a bottle of the wine Mr. Bramble says you are especially partial to,--but it wasn't until your heel came through the ceiling that they believed _anything_ at all. Subsequently I discovered that her ladyship had prepared them for all sorts of trickery on my part. She had made them promise to die rather than give you up. Now that I see things as they are in a clear light, it occurs to me that your ladyship must have pretty thoroughly convinced the old gentlemen that Lord Temple is a fit subject for the gallows,--or at the very least, Newgate Prison. I fancy--" Lady Jane laughed aloud, gaily, unrestrainedly. "Oh, dear! What a mess I've made of things!" she cried. "Can you ever forgive me, Eric?" "Never!" he cried, and Mr. Chambers took that very instant to stoop over for a word with the men at the foot of the ladder. He went farther and had several words with them. Indeed, it is not unlikely that he, in his eagerness to please, would have stretched it into a real chat if the object of his consideration had not cried out: "And now let us get down from this stuffy place, Eric. I am sure there must be rats and all sorts of things up here. And it was such a jolly place before the lantern came." "Can you manage it, sir?" inquired Mr. Chambers anxiously, as Eric prepared to lower her through the trap-door.