“MydearGerald!“heexclaimedreprovingly。“Youwouldleaveussoabruptly?Beforeyoursister,too!WhatwillMr。Hamelthinkofourcountryways?Prayresumeyourseat。“
Foramomenttheboystoodquitestill,thenheslowlysubsidedintohischair。Mr。Fentolinpassedaroundadecanterofwinewhichhadbeenplaceduponthetablebythebutler。Theservantshadnowlefttheroom。
“Youmustexcusemynephew,ifyouplease,Mr。Hamel,“hebegged。
“Geraldhasaboy’scuriousaversiontopraiseinanyform。Iamlookingforwardtohearingyourverdictuponmyport。Thecollectionofwineandpictureswasahobbyofmygrandfather’s,forwhichwe,hisdescendants,canneverbesufficientlygrateful。“
Hamelpraisedhiswine,asindeedhehadeveryreasonto,butforafewmomentsthesmoothconversationofhishostfellupondeafears。Helookedfromtheboy’sface,paleandwrinkledasthoughwithsomesortofsuppressedpain,tothegirl’sstill,stonyexpression。Thiswasindeedahouseofmysteries!Therewassomethinghereincomprehensible,somethingabouttherelationsofthesethreeandtheirknowledgeofoneanother,utterlybaffling。
Itwasthequeeresthousehold,surely,intowhichanystrangerhadverbeenprecipitated。
“Theplantingoftreesandthelayingdownofportaretwovirtuesinourancestorswhichhaveneverbeenproperlyappreciated,“Mr。
Fentolincontinued。“Letus,atanyrate,freeourselvesfromthereproachofingratitudesofarasregardsmygrandfather-GeraldFentolin-towhomIbelieveweareindebtedforthiswine。Wewilldrink-“
Mr。Fentolinbrokeoffinthemiddleofhissentence。Theaugustcalmofthegreathousehadbeensuddenlybroken。Fromup-stairscamethetumultofraisedvoices,theslammingofadoor,thefallingofsomethingheavyuponthefloor。Mr。Fentolinlistenedwithagrimchangeinhisexpression。Hissmilehaddeparted,hislowerlipwasthrustout,hiseyebrowsmet。Heraisedthelittlewhistlewhichhungfromhischain。Atthatmoment,however,thedoorwasopened。DoctorSarsonappeared。
“Iamsorrytodisturbyou,Mr。Fentolin,“hesaid,“butourpatientisbecomingalittledifficult。Theconcussionhaslefthim,asI
feareditmight,inastateofnervousexcitability。Heinsistsuponaninterviewwithyou。“
Mr。Fentolinbackedhislittlechairfromthetable。Thedoctorcameoverandlaidhishanduponthehandle。
“Youwill,Iamsure,excusemeforafewmoments,Mr。Hamel,“
hishostbegged。“Mynieceandnephewwilldotheirbesttoentertainyou。Now,Sarson,Iamready。“
Mr。Fentolinglidedacrossthedim,emptyspacesofthesplendidapartment,followedbythedoctor;aghostlylittleprocessionitseemed。Thedoorwasclosedbehindthem。Forafewmomentsacurioussilenceensued。Geraldremainedtenseandapparentlysufferingfromsomesortofsuppressedemotion。Estherforthefirsttimemovedinherplace。SheleanedtowardsHamel。Herlipswereslowlyparted,hereyessoughtthedoorasthoughinterror。
Hervoice,althoughsaveforthemselvestherewasnooneelseinthewholeofthatgreatapartment,hadsunktothelowestofwhispers。
“Areyouabraveman,Mr。Hamel?“sheasked。
Hewasstaggeredbutheansweredherpromptly。
“Ibelieveso。“
“Don’tgiveuptheTower-justyet。Thatiswhat-hehasbroughtyouherefor。Hewantsyoutogiveitupandgoback。Don’t!“
Theearnestnessofherwordswasunmistakable。Hamelfeltthethrillofcomingevents。
“Whynot?“
“Don’taskme,“shebegged。“Onlyifyouarebrave,ifyouhavefeelingforothers,keeptheTower,ifitbeforonlyaweek。
Hush!“
Thedoorhadbeennoiselesslyopened。Thedoctorappearedandadvancedtothetablewithagravelittlebow。
“Mr。Fentolin,“hesaid,“hasbeenkindenoughtosuggestthatI
takeaglassofwinewithyou。Mypresenceisnotneededup-stairs。
Mr。Hamel,“headded,“Iamglad,sir,tomakeyouracquaintance。
Ihaveforalongtimebeenagreatadmirerofyourfather’swork。“
Hetookhisplaceattheheadofthetableand,fillinghisglass,bowedtowardsHamel。OncemoreGeraldandhissisterrelapsedalmostautomaticallyintoanindifferentandcultivatedsilence。
Hamelfoundcivilitytowardsthenewcomerdifficult。Unconsciouslyhisattitudebecamethatoftheothertwo。Heresentedtheintrusion。HefoundhimselfregardingtheadventofDoctorSarsonaspossessingsomesecondarysignificance。ItwasalmostasthoughMr。Fentolinpreferrednottoleavehimalonewithhisnieceandnephew。
Neverthe1ess,hisvoice,whenhespoke,wasclearandfirm。
Mr。Fentolin,onleavingthedining-room,steeredhischairwithgreatprecisionthroughtheopen,wrought-irondoorsofasmallliftatthefurtherendofthehall,whichDoctorSarson,whosteppedinwithhim,promptlydirectedtothesecondfloor。HeretheymadetheirwaytotheroominwhichMr。Dunsterwaslying。
DoctorSarsonopenedthedoorandlookedin。Almostimmediatelyhestoodatoneside,outofsightofMr。Dunster,andnoddedtoMr。
Fentolin。
“Ifthereisanytrouble,“hewhispered,“sendforme。Iambetteraway,forthepresent。Mypresenceonlyexciteshim。“
Mr。Fentolinnodded。
“Youareright,“hesaid。“Godownintothedining-room。IamnotsureaboutthatfellowHamel,andGeraldisinaqueertemper。Staywiththem。Seethattheyarenotalone。“
Thedoctorsilentlywithdrew,andMr。Fentolinpromptlyglidedpasthimintotheroom。Mr。JohnP。Dunster,inhisnightclothes,wassittingonthesideofthebed。Standingwithinafewfeetofhim,watchinghimallthetimewiththesubtleintentnessofacatwatchingamouse,stoodMeekins。Mr。Dunster’sheadwasstillbound,althoughthebandagehadslippedalittle,apparentlyinsomestruggle。Hisfacewaschalklike,andhewasbreathingquickly。
“Soyou’vecomeatlast!“heexclaimed,alittletruculently。“AreyouMr。Fentolin?“
Mr。Fentolingravelyadmittedhisidentity。Hiseyesresteduponhisguestwithanairoftenderinterest。Hisfacewasalmostbeautiful。
“Youaretheownerofthishouse-Iamunderneathyourroof-isthatso?“
“ThisiscertainlySt。David’sHall,“Mr。Fentolinreplied。“Itreallyappearsasthoughyourconclusionswerecorrect。“
“ThenwillyoutellmewhyIamkeptaprisonerhere?“
Mr。Fentolin’sexpressionwasforamomentclouded。Heseemedhurt。
“Aprisoner,“herepeatedsoftly。“MydearMr。Dunster,youhavesurelyforgottenthecircumstanceswhichprocuredformethepleasureofthisvisit;theconditioninwhichyouarrivedhere-only,afterall,averyfewhoursago?“
“Thecircumstances,“Mr。Dunsterdeclareddrily,“aretomestillinexplicable。AtLiverpoolStreetStationIwasaccostedbyayoungmanwhoinformedmethathisnamewasGeraldFentolin,andthathewasonhiswaytoTheHaguetoplayinagolftournament。
Hisstoryseemedentirelyprobable,andIpermittedhimaseatinthespecialtrainIhadcharteredforHarwich。TherewasanaccidentandIreceivedthisblowtomyhead-onlyatriflingaffair,afterall。Icometomysensestofindmyselfhere。Idonotknowexactlywhatpartoftheworldyoucallthis,butfromthefactthatIcanseetheseafrommywindow,itmustbesomeconsiderabledistancefromthesceneoftheaccident。Ifindthatmydressing-casehasbeenopened,mypocket-bookexamined,andIamapparentlyaprisoner。
Iaskyou,Mr。Fentolin,foranexplanation。“
Mr。Fentolinsmiledreassuringly。
“Mydearsir,“hesaid,“mydearMr。Dunster,IbelieveImayhavethepleasureofcallingyou-yourconclusionsseemtomejustalittlemelodramatic。Mynephew-GeraldFentolin-didwhatI
considerthenaturalthing,underthecircumstances。Youhadbeencourteoustohim,andherepaidtheobligationtothebestofhisability。Theaccidenttoyourtrainhappenedinadrearypartofthecountry,somethirtymilesfromhere。MynephewadoptedacoursewhichIthink,underthecircumstances,wasthenaturalandhospitableone。Hebroughtyoutohishome。Therewasnohospitalortownofanyimportancenearer。“
“Verywell,“Mr。Dunsterdecided。“Iwillacceptyourversionoftheaffair。Iwill,then,uptothispointacknowledgemyselfyourdebtor。Butwillyoutellmewhymydressing-casehasbeenopened,myclothesremoved,andapocket-bookcontainingpapersofgreatimportancetomehasbeentamperedwith?“