"Yes, sir. Everything is ready. There's a fire in the lady's room, and, as you said she had to leave hurriedly, I got a few clothes and other necessaries for her." "Thank you. Then she may like you to show her to her room." He turned to Penelope. "If there is anything you would like, just tell Sophie. And I hope you will not waste your time trying to bribe or threaten her. We have known each other a long time, Sophie and I." If other matters had not been teeming in Penelope's mind she might have viewed with some surprise the furnishings of the room to which she was ushered. The dingy aspect of the outside of the house had promised nothing of this kind. It might have been the boudoir of some princess. Luxurious carpets, chaste and delicate silken hangings, a bed and chairs made by artists of long ago and matching the small bookcase and writing-desk that seemed designed for the niches into which they fitted, and two or three dainty water colours that in themselves must have cost a small fortune, completed a room that would have sent a professional decorator into ecstasy. On that small room money and thought had been lavished. "You see it's a kind of sitting-room as well as a bedroom?" explained Sophie. "I have laid out some things for you on the bed. I had only a general idea of your size but I think they will fit. Would you like me to help you try them on?" "Oh, no, no. Not now," said Penelope. She caught the other by the arm. "Where is this place, Mrs. Lengholm?" Sophie shook her head. "I'm to do anything for you except answer questions, miss." "I know I'm somewhere on the Kent or Sussex coast," said the girl. "The signposts coming down told me that." Sophie maintained an inflexible silence. Penelope considered her for a moment. "Perhaps you don't know that I have been brought down here by force," she ventured. "If you could post a letter for me--to let my friends know. I could make it worth your while----" A slow ironic smile broke over the elder woman's face. Penelope saw what the answer must be before she spoke. "Didn't you hear what Mr. Hughes said? You can't bribe me." She moved towards the door. "If you want anything more, will you please ring." Down in one of the morning rooms Larry Hughes smoked a thoughtful cigarette and nursed his right knee between his hands. He straightened up as Sophie entered soft footed. "Well," he demanded, "everything all right?" "She offered me money to post a letter." "Didn't you take it?" he replied carelessly. "More fool you." He did not even look at her, and the glowering eyes of the woman were lost to him. "What are you going to do with her?" she asked. He flicked the ash from his cigarette, and turned curiously to her. "You're growing inquisitive in your old age, Sophie," he said with a slight rising inflection in his voice. "All you've got to do is to look after her while I tell you." "There's some things I won't do, Larry Hughes," she retorted steadily.