Then amongst them she saw a chair with a broken back.
She tried to pick it up and found that it was very heavy and so old that it might have been there for centuries.
She pulled it to the trap door, hoping that it would not be too wide to squeeze it through.
It took a lot of effort, but, with the Earl pulling the legs beneath her, they got it down.
He put it on the floor and, when he was standing on it, only his head was through the trap door.
He reached out his hand, but there was nothing to hold on to.
Without him saying, anything, Minerva realised what was required.
She looked round the room, but could not see any rope in the semi-darkness.
Then, on an impulse, she undid the safety pins and pulled off the Eton coat that she was wearing.
Slipping it round one of the bars on the
