第324章

'Well; yes; I do. I'm very sorry, you know, if I seem to be uncivil--'

'It's because I've no brother,' said the tigress. 'He thinks that Ihave no man near me to protect me. But he shall find that I can protect myself. John Eames, why are you treating me like this?'

'I shall consult my cousin the serjeant tomorrow,' said the dragon. 'In the meantime he must remain in this house. I shall not allow the front door to be unlocked for him.'

This, I think, was the bitterest moment of all for Johnny. To be confined all night in Lady Demolines's drawing-room would, of itself, be an intolerable nuisance. And then the absurdity of the thing, and the story that would go abroad! And what would he say to the dragon's cousin the serjeant, if the serjeant should be brought upon the field before he was able to escape from it? He did not know what a serjeant might not do to him in such circumstances. There was one thing no serjeant should do, and no dragon! Between them all they should never force him to marry the tigress. At this moment Johnny heard a tramp along the pavement, and he rushed to the window. Before the dragon or even the tigress could arrest him, he had thrown open the sash, and had appealed in his difficulty to the guardian of the night. 'I say, old fellow,' said Johnny, 'don't you stir from that till I tell you.' The policeman turned his bull's-eye upon the window, and stood perfectly motionless. 'Now, if you please, I'll say good-night,' said Johnny. But, as he spoke he still held the open window in his hand.

'What means this violence in my house?' said the dragon.

'Mamma, you had better let him go,' said the tigress. 'We shall know where to find him.'

'You will certainly be able to find me,' said Johnny.

'Go,' said the dragon, shaking her crest--shaking all her armour at him--'dastard, go!'

'Policeman,' shouted Johnny, while he still held the open window in his hand, 'mind you don't stir till I come out.' The bull's-eye was shifted a little, but the policeman never said a word.

'I wish you a good-night, Lady Demolines,' said Johnny. 'Good-night, Miss Demolines.' Then he left the window and made a run for the door.

But the dragon was there before him.

'Let him go, mamma,' said the tigress as she closed the window. 'We shall only have a rumpus.'

'That will be all,' said Johnny. 'There isn't the slightest use in your trying to keep me here.'

'And are we never to see you again?' said the tigress, almost languishing again with one eye.

'Well; no. What would be the use? No man likes to be shut in, you know.'

'Go, then,' said the tigress; 'but if you think that this is to be the end of it you'll find yourself wonderfully mistaken. You poor false, drivelling creature! Lily Dale won't touch you with a pair of tongs.

It's no use your going to her.'

'Go away, sir, this moment, and don't contaminate my room an instant longer by your presence,' said the dragon, who had observed through the window the bull's-eye was still in full force before the house. Then John Eames withdrew, and descending into the hall made his way in the dark to the front door. For aught he knew there might still be treachery in regard to the lock; but his heart was comforted as he heard the footfall of the policeman on the door-step. With much fumbling he succeeded at last in turning the key and drawing the bolt, and then he found himself at liberty in the street. Before he even spoke a word to the policeman he went out into the road and looked up at the window. He could just see the figure of the dragon's helmet as she was closing the shutters. It was the last he ever saw of Lady Demolines or her daughter.

'What was it all about?' said the policeman.

'I don't know that I can just tell you,' said Johnny, searching in his pocket-book for half a sovereign which he tendered to the man. 'There was a little difficulty, and I'm obliged to you for waiting.'

'There ain't nothing wrong?' said the man suspiciously, hesitating for a moment before he accepted the coin.

'Nothing on earth. I'll wait with you, while you have the house opened and inquire, if you wish it. The truth is somebody inside refused to have the door opened, and I didn't want to stay there all night.'

'They're a rummy couple, if what I hear is true.'

'They are a rummy couple,' said Johnny.

'I suppose it's all right,' said the policeman, taking the money. And then John walked off home by himself, turning his mind all the circumstances of his connection with Miss Demolines. Taking his own conduct as a whole, he was rather proud of it; but he acknowledged to himself that it would be well that he should keep himself free from the society of Madalinas for the future.