“OfcourseIdo,“Hamelinsisted。“I’monforanything。“
“Yousaythatyouareentirelyyourownmasterforthenextsixmonths?“
“OrasmuchlongerasIlike,“Hamelassented。“Noplansatall,exceptthatImightdriftroundtotheNorfolkcoastandlookupsomeoftheplaceswherethegovernorusedtopaint。There’saqueerlittlehouse-St。David’sTower,Ibelievetheycallit-whichreallybelongstome。Itwasgiventomyfather,orratherheboughtit,fromamanwhoIthinkmusthavebeensomerelativeofyourfriend。IfeelsurethenamewasFentolin。“
ReginaldKinsleysetdownhiswine-glass。
“IsyourSt。David’sToweranywherenearaplacecalledSalthouse?“
heaskedreflectively。
“That’sthenameofthevillage,“Hameladmitted。“Myfatherusedtospendquitealotoftimeinthoseparts,andpaintedatleastadozenpicturesdownthere。“
“Thisisacoincidence,“ReginaldKinsleydeclared,lightingacigarette。“Ithink,ifIwereyou,Dick,I’dgodownandclaimmyproperty。“
“Tiredofmealready?“Hamelasked,smiling。
ReginaldKinsleyknockedtheashfromhiscigarette。
“Itisn’tthat。Thefactis,thatjobIwasspeakingtoyouaboutwassimplythis。WewantsomeonetogodowntoSalthouse-notexactlyasaspy,youknow,butsomeonewhohashiswitsabouthim。
WeareallofusverycuriousaboutthismanFentolin。ThereareoendofrumourswhichIwon’tmentiontoyou,fortheymightonlyputyouoffthescent。Butthemanseemstobealwaysintriguing。
Itwouldn’tmattersomuchifhewereourfriend,orifheweresimplyafinancier,buttotellyouthetruth,wehavecausetosuspecthim。“
“Buthe’sanEnglishman,surely?“Hamelasked。“TheFentolinwhowasmyfather’sfriendwasjustaverywealthyNorfolksquire-oneofthebest,fromallIhaveheard。“
“MilesFentolinisanEnglishman,“Kinsleyadmitted。“Itistrue,too,thathecomesofaveryancientNorfolkfamily。Itdoesn’tdo,however,tobuildtoomuchuponthat。FromallIcanlearnofhim,heisasortofPuck,aprofessionalmischief-maker。Idon’tsupposethere’sanythinganoutsidercouldfindoutwhichwouldbereallyusefultous,butallthesame,ifIhadthetime,IshouldcertainlygodowntoNorfolkmyself。“
Theconversationdriftedawayforawhile。Mutualacquaintancesentered,therewereseveralintroductions,anditwasnotuntilthetwofoundthemselvestogetherinKinsley’sroomsforafewminutesbeforepartingthattheywerealoneagain。Hamelreturnedthenoncemoretothesubject。
“Reggie,“hesaid,“ifyouthinkitwouldbeoftheslightestuse,I’llgodowntoSalthouseto-morrow。Iamratherkeenongoingthere,anyway。Iamabsolutelyfedupwithlifeherealready。“
“It’sjustwhatIwantyoutodo,“Kinsleysaid。“IamafraidFentolinisalittletoocleverforyoutogetontherightsideofhim,butifyoucouldonlygetanideaastowhathisgameisdownthere,itwouldbeagreathelp。Yousee,thefellowcan’thavegoneintoallthissortofthingblindfold。We’velostseveralveryusefulagentsabroadandtwofromNewYorkwho’vegoneintohispay。Theremustbeamethodinitsomewhere。Ifitreallyendswithhisfinancialoperations-why,allright。
That’sverylikelywhatit’llcometo,butweshouldliketoknow。
ThemeresthintwouldbeusefuL“
“I’lldomybest,“Hamelpromised。“Inanycase,itwillbejustthefewdays’holidayIwaslookingforwardto。“
Kinsleyhelpedhimselftowhiskyandsodaandturnedtowardshisfriend。
“Here’slucktoyou,Dick!Takecareofyourself。Allsortsofthingsmayhappen,youknow。OldmanFentolinmaytakeafancytoyouandtellyousecretsthatanystatesmaninEuropewouldbegladtohear。Hemaytellyouwhythisconferenceisbeingheldandwhattheresultwillbe。Youmaybethefirsttohearofourcomingfall。Well,here’stoyou,anyway!Dropmealine,ifyou’veanythingtoreport。“
“Cheero!“Hamelanswered,ashesetdownhisemptytumbler。
“AstonishinghowkeenIfeelaboutthislittleadventure。I’mperfectlysickofthehumdrumlifeIhavebeenleadingthelastweek,andyoudosortoftakeonebacktotheArabianNights,youknow,Reggie。Iamneverquitesurewhethertotakeyouseriouslyornot。“
Kinsleysmiledasheheldhisfriend’sbandforamoment。
“Dick,“hesaidearnestly,“ifonlyyou’dbelieveit,theadventuresintheArabianNightswereasnothingcomparedwiththepresent-daydramaofforeignpolitics。Yousee,we’velearnedtoconcealthingsnowadays-tosmooththemover,toplaythepartofordinarycitizenstotheworldwhilewetugattheunderhandleversinoursecretmoments。Goodnight!Goodluck!“
RichardHame1,althoughhecertainlyhadnottheappearanceofapersonafflictedwithnerves,gaveaslightstart。Forthelasthalf-hour,duringwhichtimethetrainhadmadenostop,hehadbeenaloneinhiscompartment。Yet,tohissurprise,hewassuddenlyawarethattheseatoppositetohimhadbeennoiselesslytakenbyagirlwhoseeyes,also,werefixedwithcuriousintentnessuponthebroadexpanseofmarshlandandsandsacrosswhichthetrainwasslowlymakingitsway。Hamelhadspentagreatmanyyearsabroad,andhisfirstimpulsewastospeakwiththeunexpectedstranger。HeforgotforamomentthathewasinEngland,travellinginafirst-classcarriage,andpointedwithhislefthandtowardsthesea。
“Queercountrythis,isn’tit?“heremarkedpleasantly。“Doyouknow,Ineverheardyoucomein。ItgavemequiteastartwhenI
foundthatIhadafellow-passenger。“
Shelookedathimwithacertainamountofstillsurprise,alookwhichhereturnedjustassteadfastly,becauseeveninthosefewsecondshewasconsciousofthatstrangeselectiveinterest,certainlyunaccountedforbyhisownimpressionsofherappearance。
Sheseemedtohim,atthatfirstglance,veryfarindeedfrombeinggood-looking,accordingtoanyofthestandardsbywhichhehadmeasuredgoodlooks。Shewasthin,toothinforhistaste,andshecarriedherselfwithanaloofnesstowhichhewasunaccustomed。
Hercheekswerequitepale,herhairofasoftshadeofbrown,hereyesgreyandsad。Shegavehimaltogetheranimpressionofcolourlessness,andhehadbeenlivinginalandwherecolourandvitalitymeantmuch。Herspeech,too,initsveryrestraint,fellstrangelyuponhisears。
“Ihavebeentravellinginanuncomfortablecompartment,“sheobserved。“Ihappenedtonotice,whenpassingalongthecorridor,thatyourswasempty。Inanycase,Iamgettingoutatthenextstation。“
“SoamI,“hereplied,stillcheerfully。“IsupposethenextstationisSt。David’s?“
Shemadenoanswer,butsofarasherexpressioncountedforanythingatall,shewasalittlesurprised。Hereyesconsideredhimforamoment。Hamelwastall,welloversixfeet,powerfullymade,withgoodfeatures,cleareyes,andcomplexionunusuallysunburnt。Heworeaflannelcollarofunfamiliarshape,andhisclothes,althoughtheywereneatenough,wereofapatternandcutobviouslydesignedtoaffordthemaximumofeaseandcomfortwiththeminimumregardtoappearance。Hewore,too,verythickboots,andhishandsgaveonetheimpressionthattheywereseldomgloved。
Hisvoicewaspleasant,andhehadtheeasyself-confidenceofapersonsureofhimselfintheworld。Sheputhimdownasacolonial-perhapsanAmerican-buthisrankinlifemystifiedher。
“Thisseemsthequeereststretchofcountry,“hewenton;“longspitsofsandjuttingrightoutintothesea,dikesandcreeks-milesandmilesofthem。Now,Iwonder,isitlowtideorhigh?
Low,Ishouldthink,becauseofthesea-shineonthesandthere。“
Sheglancedoutofthewindow。
“Thetide,“shetoldhim,“isalmostatitslowest。“
“Youliveinthisneighbourhood,perhaps?“heenquired。
“Ido,“sheassented。
“Sortofcountryonemightgetveryfondof,“heventured。
Sheglancedathimfromthedepthsofhergreyeyes。
“Doyouthinkso?“sherejoinedcoldly。“Formypart,Ihateit。“
Hewassurprisedattheunexpectedemphasisofhertone-thefirsttime,indeed,thatshehadshownanysignsofinterestintheconversation。
“KindofdullIsupposeyoufindit,“heremarkedpensively,lookingoutacrossthewasteoflavender-grownmarshes,sandhummockspiledwithseaweed,andafardistantlineofpebbledshore。“Andyet,I
don’tknow。Ihavelivedbytheseaagooddeal,andhowevermonotonousitmayseematfirst,there’salwaysplentyofchange,really。Tideandwinddosuchwonderfulwork。“
She,too,waslookingoutnowtowardsthesea。