But
just as she was about to mount and ride away into the unknown where no
grandmother, be she Brady or Bailey, would ever be able to search her out,
no matter how hard she tried, the door suddenly opened again, and there
was a great commotion. The maid and the old butler both flew out, and laid
hands upon her. She dropped the bridle, and seized her pistol, covering
them both with its black, forbidding nozzle.
They stopped, trembling, but the butler bravely stood his ground. He did
not know why he was to detain this extraordinary young person, but he felt
sure something wrong. Probably she was a thief, and had taken some of
Madam's jewels. He could call the police. He opened his mouth to do so
when the maid explained.
"Madam wants you to come back. She didn't understand. She wants to see you
and ask about her son. You must come, or you will kill her. She has heart
trouble, and you must not excite her."
Elizabeth put the pistol back into its holster and, picking up the bridle
again, fastened it in the ring, saying simply, "I will come back."
"What do you want?" she asked abruptly when she returned to the bedroom.
"Don't you know that's a disrespectful way to speak?" asked the woman
querulously. "What did you have to get into a temper for, and go off like
that without telling me anything about my son? Sit down, and tell me all
about it."
"I'm sorry, grandmother," said Elizabeth, sitting down. "I thought you
didn't want me and I better go.
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