The Talisman Ring

‘You are too kind, ma’am!’

‘Not at all; I shall be delighted to help you,’ Miss Thane assured him. ‘I have just the sort of female that would suit you in my mind’s eye. A good, affectionate girl, with no pretensions to beauty, and a grateful disposition. She must be past the age of wanting to go to parties, and she must not expect you to make pretty speeches to her. I wonder – Would you object to her having a slight – a very slight squint in one eye?’

‘Yes, I should,’ said Sir Tristram. ‘Nor have I the smallest desire to –’

Miss Thane sighed. ‘Well, that is a pity. I had thought of the very person for you.’

‘Let me beg you not to waste your time thinking of another! The matter is not urgent.’

She shook her head. ‘I cannot agree with you. After all, when one approaches middle age –’

‘Middle – Has anyone ever boxed your ears, Miss Thane?’

‘No, never,’ said Miss Thane, looking blandly up at him.

‘You have been undeservedly fortunate,’ said Sir Tristram grimly. ‘We will, if you please, leave the subject of my marriage. I do not anticipate an immediate entry into wedlock.’

‘Do you know,’ said Miss Thane, with an air of candour, ‘I believe you are wise. You are not cut out for matrimony. Your faith in females was shattered by an unfortunate affair in your youth; your eyes were opened to the defects of the female character; you are –’

Sir Tristram looked thunderous. ‘Who told you this?’ he snapped.

‘Why, you did!’

‘I?’ he repeated.

‘Most certainly.’

‘You are mistaken. I am ready to allow that there may be many excellent women in the world. I do not know by what sign you knew that there had been an affair in my past about which I do not care to think. I can assure you that it has not prejudiced me against your sex.’

Miss Thane listened to this with her usual placidity, and, far from showing discomfiture, merely said: ‘It seems to me very inexplicable that you can have met your cousin with so open a mind and yet failed to fall instantly in love with her.’

He gave a short laugh. ‘There is no fear of my falling in love, ma’am. I learned my lesson early in life, but believe me, I have not forgotten it!’

‘How melancholy it is to reflect that so few people have the good sense to profit by their experience as you have done!’ said Miss Thane soulfully. ‘I wonder if we should warn your cousins of the disillusionment in store for them?’

‘I do not think it will be necessary, Miss Thane. Moreover, there is no immediate likelihood of their being married. Ludovic’s affairs seem to me to be in as bad a way as they well might be.’

She became serious at once. ‘Do you think them hopeless?’

‘No, not hopeless,’ he replied. ‘But we have no certainty of the talisman ring being in Basil Lavenham’s possession, and to be frank with you, I don’t place much dependence upon its being in the priest’s hole, even if he has got it. Assuming that he has, I think he would remove it from a hiding-place known to Ludovic the instant he suspected his presence in the neighbourhood.’

‘But does he suspect his presence?’

‘There is no saying what the Beau suspects, Miss Thane. Don’t allow Ludovic to convince you that we have to deal with a fool! He is no such thing, I assure you.’

‘You need not tell me that: I have met him. Will you think me fanciful if I say that I have a strong feeling that he is truly at the bottom of all Ludovic’s troubles?’

‘No, I think it myself. The difficulty will be to prove it.’

‘If you cannot find the ring what is to be done?’

She saw his mouth harden. He had evidently considered this question, for he replied at once: ‘If the worst comes to the worst, the truth will have to be got out of him by other methods.’

Miss Thane, looking at Sir Tristram’s powerful frame, and observing the grimness in his face, could not help feeling sorry for the Beau if the worst should come to the worst. She replied lightly: ‘Would – er – other methods answer, do you suppose?’

‘Probably,’ said Sir Tristram. ‘He has very little physical courage. But until we have more to go upon than conjecture, we need not consider that.’

She sat thinking for a few moments, and presently said: ‘In one way it might not be so bad a thing if he did suspect Ludovic’s presence here. If he suspected it he must, I imagine, realize that you have been convinced of Ludovic’s innocence. I have frequently observed that when people are a little alarmed they are apt to behave with less than common sense. Your cousin has been so secure until now that it has been easy to act with coolness and presence of mind.’