Explore "The Sealed Message" by Fergus Hume on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Haskins, being genuinely Anglo-Saxon, had not the plotting instincts of a conspirator, and was therefore somewhat rough and ready in arranging for a secret meeting with Mavis. However, love sharped his wits and he excused himself to the landlady of the Prince's Head for being absent after midnight on the plea that he had to ride out and see an old friend. In the ordinary course of things there was no reason why he should explain at all; but to make matters entirely safe, should Mr. Geary play the spy -- which was just what the creature would do -- Haskins thus arranged for an explanation.
After dinner he called in Mrs. Jennings and ordered a horse, obtaining at the same time the key of a side door, so that he could admit himself when he returned, somewhere about one o'clock in the morning. Then he gave orders that he was to be called in time for the early morning train, and afterwards snatched forty winks, in order to prepare himself thoroughly for the fatigues of the night.