“Weseemtohavecollectedaboutfortymessagesfromdifferentbattleshipsandcruisers。Theremustbeawholesquadronbarelythirtymilesout。“
“Youdon’treallythink,“LadySaxthorpeasked,“thatthereisanyfearofwar,doyou,Mr。Fentolin?
Heansweredherwithacertainamountofgravity。“Whocantell?
Thepapersthismorningwerebad。ThisconferenceatTheHagueisstillunexplained。France’sattitudeinthematterisespeciallymysterious。“
“IamastrongsupporterofLordRoberts,“LordSaxthorpesaid,“andIbelieveinthevitalnecessityofsomeschemefornationalservice。Atthesametime,Ifindithardtobelievethatasuccessfulinvasionofthiscountryiswithintheboundsofpossibility。“
“Iquiteagreewithyou,LordSaxthorpe,“Mr。Fentolindeclaredsmoothly。“Allthesame,thisHagueConferenceisamostmysteriousaffair。Thepapersthismorningareominouslysilentaboutthefleet。Fromthetangleofmessageswehavepickedup,Ishouldsay,withoutadoubt,thatsomeformofmobilisationisgoingonintheNorthSea。IfLadySaxthorpethinksitwarmenough,shallwetakeourcoffeeupontheterrace?“
“Theterrace,byallmeans,“herladyshipassented,risingfromherplace。“Whatawonderfulmanyouare,Mr。Fentolin,withyourwirelesstelegraphy,andyourtelegraphofficeinthehouse,andtelephones。Doesitreallyamuseyoutobesomodern?“
“Toacertainextent,yes,“Mr。Fentolinsighed,asheguidedhischairalongthehall。“Whenmymisfortunefirstcame,IusedtospeculateagooddealupontheStockExchange。ThatwasreallythereasonIwentinforallthesemodernappliances。“
“Andnow?“sheasked。“Whatusedoyoumakeofthemnow?“
Mr。Fentolinsmiledquietly。Helookedoutsea-ward,beyondthesky-line,fromwhencehadcometohim,throughtheclouds,thattangleofmessages。
“Iliketofeel,“hesaid,“thattheturningwheeloflifeisnotaltogetheroutofearshot。Iliketodabblejustalittleintheknowledgeofthesethings。“
LordSaxthorpecamestrollinguptothem。
“Youwon’tforgettotelephoneaboutthisguestofyours?“heaskedfussily。
“Itisalreadydone,“Mr。Fentolinassuredhim。“Mydearsister,whysosilent?“
Mrs。Fentolinturnedslowlytowardshim。She,too,hadbeenstandingwithhereyesfixeduponthedistantsea-line。Herfaceseemedsuddenlytohaveaged,herforcedvivacitytohavedeparted。
HerlittlePomeranianrubbedagainstherfeetinvain。YetatthesoundofMr。Fentolin’svoice,sheseemedtocomebacktoherselfasthoughbymagic。
“Iwaslookingwhereyouwerelooking,“shededaredlightly,“justtryingtoseealittlewaybeyond。Sosilly,isn’tit?
Chow-Chow,youbadlittledog,comeandyoushallhaveyourdinner。“
Shestrolledoff,hummingatunetoherself。LordSaxthorpewatchedherwithashadowuponhisplain,good-humouredface。
“Somehoworother,“heremarkedquietly,“Mrs。Fentolinneverseemstohavegotoverthelossofherhusband,doesshe?Howlongisitsincehedied?“
“Eightyears,“Mr。Fentolinreplied。“Itwasjustsixmonthsaftermyownaccident。“
“Iamlosingagreatdealofsympathyforyou,Mr。Fentolin,“LadySaxthorpeconfessed,comingovertohisside。“Youhavesomanyresources,thereissomuchinlifewhichyoucando。Youpaint,asweallknow,exquisitely。Theytellmethatyouplaytheviolinlikeamaster。Youhaveunlimitedtimeforreading,andtheysaythatyouareoneofthegreatestlivingauthoritiesuponthepoliticsofEurope。Yourmorningpapermustbringyousomuchthatisinteresting。“
“Itistrue,“Mr。Fentolinadmitted,“thatIhavecompensationswhichnoonecanguessat,compensationswhichappealtomemoreastimestealson。Andyet-“
Hestoppedshort。
“Andyet?“LadySaxthorperepeatedinterrogatively。
Mr……FentolinwaswatchingGeralddrivegolfballsfromthelawnbeneath。Hepointeddownwards。
“IwaslikethatwhenIwashisage,“hesaidquietly。
Mr。Fentolinremainedupontheterracelongafterthedepartureofhisguests。Hehadfoundasunnycorneroutofthewind,andhesattherewithatelescopebyhissideandabudgetofnewspapersuponhisknee。Onsomepretextoranotherhehaddetainedalltheothersofthehouseholdsothattheyformedalittlecourtaroundhim。
EvenHamel,whohadsaidsomethingaboutawalk,hadbeeninducedtostopbyanappealingglancefromEsther。Mr。Fentolinwasinoneofhismostloquaciousmoods。Forsomereasonorother,thevisitoftheSaxthorpesseemedtohaveexcitedhim。Hetalkedcontinually,withthebriefestpauses。Everynowandthenhegazedsteadilyacrossthemarshesthroughhistelescope。
“LordSaxthorpe,“heremarked,“has,Imustconfess,greatlyexcitedmycuriosityastotheidentityofourvisitor。Suchaharmless-lookingperson,heseems,tobecausingsuchacommotion。
Gerald,don’tyoufeelyourresponsibilityinthematter?“
“Yes,sir,Ido!“Geraldreplied,withunexpectedgrimness。“I
feelmyresponsibilitydeeply。“
Mr。Fentolin,whowasholdingthetelescopetohiseye,touchedHamelontheshoulder。
“Myyoungfriend,“hesaid,“youreyesarebetterthanmine。Youseetheroadthere?Lookalongit,betweenthewhiteposts,asfarasyoucan。Whatdoyoumakeofthatblackspeck?“
Hamelheldthetelescopetohiseyeandsteadiedituponthelittletripodstand。
“Itlookslikeahorseandtrap,“heannounced。“Good!“Mr。
Fentolindeclared。“Itseemedsotome,butIwasnotsure。Myeyesareweakthisafternoon。Howmanypeopleareinthetrap?“
“Two,“Hamelanswered。“Icanseethemdistinctlynow。Onemanisdriving,anotherissittingbyhisside。Theyarecomingthisway。“
Mr。Fentolinblewhiswhistle。Meekinsappearedalmostdirectly。
Hismasterwhisperedawordinhisear。Themanatoncedeparted。
“Letmemakeuseofyoureyesoncemore,“Mr。Fentolinbegged。
“Aboutthesetwomeninthetrap,Mr。Hamel。Isoneofthem,byanychance,wearingauniform?“
“Theybothare,“Hamelreplied。“Themanwhoisdrivingiswearingapeakedhat。Helookslikeapoliceinspector。Themanbyhissideisanordinarypoliceman。“
Mr。Fentolinsighedgently。
“Itisveryinteresting,“hesaid。“Letushopethatweshallnotseeanarrestundermyroof。Ishouldfeelitareflectionuponmyhospitality。Itrust,Isincerelytrust,thatthisvisitdoesnotbodeanyharmtoMr。JohnP。Dunster。“
Geraldroseimpatientlytohisfeetandswungacrosstheterrace。
Mr。Fentolin,however,calledhimback。
“Gerald,“headvised,“betternotgoaway。Theinspectormaydesiretoaskyouquestions。Youwillhavenothingtoconceal。Itwasanaturalanddelightfulimpulseofyourstobringthemanwhohadbefriendedyou,andwhowasyourcompanioninthatdisaster,straighttoyourownhomefortreatmentandcare。Itwasanadmirableimpulse,myboy。Youhavenothingtobeashamedof。“
“ShallItellhim,too-“Geraldbegan。
“Becareful,Gerald。“
Mr。Fentolin’swordsseemedtobechargedwithaswift,rapier-likenote。Theboybrokeoffinhisspeech。HelookedatHamelandwassilent。
“Dearme,“Mrs。Fentolinmumured,“Iamsurethereisnoneedforustotalkaboutthispoormanasthoughanybodyhaddoneanythingwronginhavinghimhere。This,Isuppose,mustbetheInspectorYardleywhomLordSaxthorpespokeof。“
“Averyintelligent-lookingofficer,Iamsure,“Mr。Fentolinremarked。“Gerald,goandmeethim,ifyouplease。Ishouldliketospeaktohimouthere。“
Thedog-carthaddrawnupatthefrontdoor,andtheinspectorhadalreadyalighted。Geraldintervenedashewasintheactofquestioningthebutler。