They would come into the recess and see him.

And then the real truth flashed in upon her blindingly.

He had jerked the cord, but he had jerked it deliberately.

He was already winding it up in a coil as it slid noiselessly across the polished floor beneath the curtains towards him.
He had given a signal to Adele Rossignol.

All that woman's scepticism and precaution against trickery had been a mere blind, under cover of which she had been able to pack the girl away securely without arousing her suspicions.