“The worst problem was how to reach the Professor. It was evident that he would have to be recalled as fast as possible, so that he could bring the police upon whom Maria’s safety really depended. The best that the People could hope to do against such desperate characters was to delay them until help arrived. But all the telephones of Malplaquet had long ago been disconnected, in the general ruin of the family; Cook’s bicycle had developed disastrous punctures on the way back from the cellars; and the People themselves had never been outside the grounds.”
— T.H. White, Mistress Masham’s Repose
