She looked at the box and enthused triumphantly,
“I found what I was seeking – and there it is. Shall we open it?”
As the Earl did not answer, she jumped up, lifted the box off the table and set it down at his feet.
It was substantially made and, while he looked at it calculatingly, she fetched the golden letter-opener from his desk.
“I thought you might be able to prise it open with this,” she suggested, “or shall I try to find something stronger?”
“You are not to leave the room dressed like that,” the Earl said sharply.
“Very well,” Petrina agreed meekly, “and, if we start with the letter-opener, we might be able to use the poker.”
It was with some difficulty and at the cost of several bruised fingers and a large number of hastily smothered oaths from the Earl that finally the box
