He put his arm about her. “I am not going to try to persuade you, Penelope, whatever I may think of your scruples. My resignation will go in the moment we get back to London.”

“Suppose,” she asked, softly, “suppose I told you that I felt freed from every obligation to this woman who was my friend? Suppose I told you that I had found her to be as treacherous as a snake, and that I would stamp on her as readily as I would upon a snake? What would you say then?”

“I should say that Donna Quixote Penelope had some very good reason. But honestly, dear, I don’t want to put you in the witness box unless you wish.”

She pulled his face down to hers and kissed him. “Thank you. I hate the thought. Still if I am to be a detective’s wife I don’t want to begin by crossing my husband-to-be. But it will be difficult for me.”

“I know that. Trust me as far as you can.”