Lookatit。Thereisn’tanotherhousequitelikeitinEngland。
Itisworthlookingover。“
“Itismostimpressive,“Hamelagreed,“andwonderfullybeautiful。
Itseemsodd,“headded,withalaugh,“thatyoushouldcareaboutthislittleshantyhere,withallthebeautifulroomsyoumusthaveofyourown。“
“It’sNaboth’svineyard,“Mr。Fentolingroaned。“Now,Mr。Hamel,youaregoingtobegracious,aren’tyou?Letusleavethequestionofyourlittlehabitationherealoneforthepresent。Comebackwithme。Mynieceshallgiveyousometea,andyoushallchooseyourroomfromforty。Youcansleepinahauntedchamber,orahistoricalchamber,inQueenElizabeth’sroom,aVictorianchamber,oraLouisQuinzeroom。Allmypeoplehavespenttheirsubstanceinfurniture。Don’tlookatyourbag。Clothesareunnecessary。I
cansupplyyouwitheverything。Or,ifyoupreferit,IcansendafastcarintoNorwichforyourownthings。Comeandbemyguest,please。“
Hamelhesitated。HehadnottheslightestdesiretogotoSt。
David’sHall,andthoughhestrovetoignoreit,hewasconsciousofanaversionofwhichhewasheartilyashamedforthisstrangefragmentofhumanity。Ontheotherhand,hismission,theactualmissionwhichhadbroughthimdowntotheseparts,couldcertainlybestbeservedbyanentreeintotheHallitself-andtherewasthegirl,whomhefeltsurebelongedthere。Hehadneverforamomentbeenabletodismissherfromhisthoughts。Herstill,coldface,thedelicateperfectionofherclothesandfigure,thegreyeyeswhichhadresteduponhissocuriously,hauntedhim。Hewasdesperatelyanxioustoseeheragain。Ifherefusedthisinvitation,ifherejectedMr。Fentolin’sprofferedfriendship,itwouldbeallthemoredifficult。
“Youarereallyverykind,“hebeganhesitatingly-
“Itissettled,“Mr。Fentolininterrupted,“settled。Meekins,youcanridebackagain。Ishallnotpaintto-day。Mr。Hamel,youwillwalkbymyside,willyounot?Icanrunmylittlemachinequiteslowly。Yousee,Ihaveanelectricbattery。Itneedschargingoften,butIhaveadynamoofmyown。Youneversawavehiclelikethisinallyourtravellings,didyou?“
Hamelshookhishead。
“Anelectricalbath-chair,“Mr。Fentolincontinued。“Practicehasmademeremarkablyskilfulinitsmanipulation。Yousee,Icansteertoaninch。“
Hewasalreadyturningaround。Hamelrosetohisfeet。
“Youarereallyverykind,“hesaid。“IshouldliketocomeupandseetheHall,atanyrate,butinthemeantime,aswearehere,couldIjustlookovertheinsideofthislittleplace?Ifoundthelargeshedwherethelifeboatusedtobekept,lockedup。“
Mr。Fentolinwasmanoeuvringhiscarriage。HisbackwastowardsHamel。
“Byallmeans,“hedeclared。“Wewillgointogether。IhavehadtheentrancewidenedsothatIcanridestraightintothesitting-room。Butwait。“
Hepausedsuddenly。Hefeltinallhispockets。
“Dearme,“heexclaimed,“IfindthatIhaveleftthekeys!Wewillcomedownalittlelater,ifyoudonotmind,Mr。Hamel。Orto-morrow,perhaps。Youwillnotmind?Itisverycarelessofme,butseeingyouabouttheplaceandimaginingthatyouwereanintruder,mademeangry,andIstartedoffinahurry。Nowwalkbymysideuptothehouse,please,andtalktome。Itissointerestingformetomeetmen,“hewenton,astheystartedalongthestraightpath,“whodothingsinlife;whogotoforeigncountries,meetstrangepeople,andhavenewexperiences。Ihavebeenagoodmanyyearslikethis,youknow。“
“Itisagreataffliction,“Hamelmurmuredsympathetically。
“InmyyouthIwasanathlete,“Mr。Fentolincontinued。“IplayedcricketfortheVarsityandformycounty。Ihunted,too,andshot。
Ididallthethingsamanlovestodo。Imightstillshoot,theytellme,butmystrengthhasebbedaway。Iamtooweaktoliftagun,tooweakeventohandleafishing-rod。Ihavejustafewhobbiesinlifewhichkeepmealive。Areyouapolitician,Mr。
Hamel?“
“Notintheleast,“Hamelreplied。“IhavebeenoutofEnglandtoolongtokeepintouchwithpolitics。“
“Naturally,“Mr。Fentolinagreed。“Itamusesmetofollowthecourseofevents。IhaveagoodmanyfriendsinLondonandabroadwhoarekindtome,whokeepmeinformed,sendmeoddbitsofinformationnotavailableforeveryone,anditamusesmetoputthesethingstogetherinmymindandtotryandplaytheprophet。
IwasintheForeignOfficeonce,youknow。Itakeupmypapereverymorning,anditisoneofmychiefintereststoseehownearmyownspeculationscometothetruth。Justnowforexample,therearestrangethingsdoingontheContinent。“
“InAmerica,“Hamelremarked,“theyaffecttolookuponEnglandasadoomedPower。“
“Notaltogethersupineyet,“Mr。Fentolinobserved,“yeteventhislastgenerationhasseenweakening。Wehavelostsomuchself-reliance。Perhapsitishavingthesegrown-upchildrenwhowethinkcantakecareofus-CanadaandAustralia,andtheothers。
However,wewillnottalkofpolitics。Itboresyou,Icansee。
Wewilltryandfindsomeothersubject。Nowtellme,don’tyouthinkthisisingenious?“
TheyhadreachedthefootofthehilluponwhichtheHallwassituated。Infrontofthem,underneaththeterrace,wasalittleirongate,heldopennowbyMeekins,whohadgoneonaheadanddismountedfromhisbicycle。
“IhaveasubterraneanwayfromhereintotheHall,“Mr。Fentolinexplained。“Comewithme。Youwillonlyhavetostoopalittle,anditmayamuseyou。Youneednotbeafraid。Thereareelectriclightseverytenyards。Iturnthemonwiththisswitch-see。“
Mr。Fentolintouchedabuttoninthewall,andtheplacewasatoncebrilliantlyilluminated。Alittlerowoflightsfromtheceilingandthewallsstretchedawayasfarasonecouldsee。Theypassedthroughtheirongates,whichshutbehindthemwithaclick。
Stoopingalittle,Hamelwasstillabletowalkbythesideofthemaninthechair。Theytraversedaboutahundredyardsofsubterraneanway。Hereandthereafungushungdownfromthewall,otherwiseitwasbeautifullykeptanddry。Byandby,withalittleturn,theycametoaninclineandanotherirongate,heldopenforthembyafootman。Mr。Fentolinspedupthelastfewfeetintothegreathail,whichseemedmoreimposingthaneverbyreasonofthisunexpectedentrance。Hamel,blinkingalittle,steppedtohisside。
“Welcome!“Mr。Fentolincriedgaily。“Welcome,myfriendMr。Hamel,toSt。David’sHall!“
Duringthenexthalf-hour,Hamelwasintroducedtoluxuriestowhich,inageneralway,hewasentirelyunaccustomed。Oneman-servantwasbusypreparinghisbathinaroomleadingoutofhissleepingapartment,whileanotherbroughthimachoiceofeveningclothesandsuperintendedhisdisrobing。Hamel,alwaysobservant,studiedhissurroundingswithkeeninterest。Hefoundhimselfinaqueerlymixedatmosphereofluxuriousmodernityandstatelyantiquity。Hisfour-poster,thehugecouchatthefootofhisbed,andallthefurnitureabouttheroom,wasoftheQueenAnneperiod。Thebathroomwhichcommunicatedwithhisapartmentwasthelatesttriumphoftheplumber’sart-aroomwithfloorandwallsofwhitetiles,thebathitselfalittlesunkenandtwicetheordinarysize。
Hedispensedsofarashecouldwiththeservicesofthemenanddescended,assoonashewasdressed,intothehall。Meekinswaswaitingatthebottomofthestairs,dressednowinsomberblack。
“Mr。Fentolinwillbegladifyouwillstepintohisroom,sir,“heannounced,leadingtheway。
Mr。Fentolinwasseatedinhischair,readingtheTimesinacornerofhislibrary。Shapedblockshadbeenplacedbehindandinfrontofthewheelsofhislittlevehicle,topreventitfrommoving。A
shadedreading-lampstoodonthetablebyhisside。Hedidnotatoncelookup,andHamelglancedaroundwithgenuineadmiration。
Theshelveswhichlinedthewallsandthewingedcaseswhichprotrudedintotheroomwerefilledwithbooks。Therewasalargeoaktablewithbeautifullycarvedlegs,piledwithallsortsofmodernreviewsandmagazines。Alogfirewasburninginthebigoakengrate。Theperfumefromagreatbowloflavenderseemedtominglecuriouslyyetpleasantlywiththehalfmustyodouroftheoldleather-houndvolumes。Themassivechimneypiecewasofblackoak,andaboveitwerecarvedthearmsoftheHouseofFentolin。
Thewallswereoak-panelledtotheceiling。
“Refreshed,Ihope,byyourbathandchange,mydearvisitor?“theheadofthehouseremarked,ashelaiddownhispaper。“Drawachairuphereandjoinmeinaglassofvermouth。Youneednotbeafraidofit。Itcomestomefromthemakerasaspecialfavour。
Hamelacceptedaquaintly-cutwine-glassfulloftheamberliquid。
Mr。Fentolinsippedhiswiththeairofaconnoisseur。
“This,“hecontinued,“isoneofourinformaldays。Thereisnooneinthehousesavemysister-in-law,niece,andnephew,andapoorinvalidgentlemanwho,Iamsorrytosay,isconfinedtohisbed。Mysister-in-lawisalso,Iregrettosay,indisposed。Shedesiredmetopresentherexcusestoyouandsayhowgreatlysheislookingforwardtomakingyouracquaintanceduringthenextfewdays。“
Hamelbowed。
“ItisverykindofMrs。Fentolin,“hemurmured。
“Ontheseoccasions,“Mr。Fentolincontinued,“wedonotmakeuseofadrawing-room。Myniecewillcomeinherepresently。Youarelookingatmybooks,Isee。Areyou,byanychance,abibliophile?
Ihaveacaseofmanuscriptsherewhichmightinterestyou。
Hamelshookhishead。
“Onlyintheabstract,Ifear,“heanswered。“IhavescarcelyopenedaseriousbooksinceIwasatOxford。“
“Whatwasyouryear?“Mr。Fentolinasked。
“FourteenyearsagoIleftMagdalen,“Hamelreplied。“Ihadmadeupmymindtoheanengineer,andIwentovertotheBostonInstituteofTechnology。“
Mr。Fentolinnoddedappreciatively。