Hamelpointedout。“Theman,afterall,wasonlyaguest。“
“That’sasitmaybe,sir,“thenursereplied。“Allthesame,thosethatwon’tobeytheirdoctorsaren’tfittobeallowedaboutalone。
That’sthewayIlookatit。“
Mrs。Fentolinwaspassingalongthecorridorastheyissuedfromtheroom。Shestartedalittleasshesawthem。
“Whathaveyoutwobeendoinginthere?“sheaskedquickly。
“Wewerejustpassing,“Hamelexplained。“Westoppedforamomenttospeaktothenurse。“
“Mr。Dunsterhasgone,“shesaid。“Yousawhimgo,Gerald。Yousawhim,too,didn’tyou,Mr。Hamel?“
“Icertainlydid,“Hameladmitted。
Mrs。Fentolinpointedtothegreatnorthwindownearwhichtheywerestanding,throughwhichtheclearsunlightstreamedalittlepitilesslyuponherwornfaceandmassofdyedhair。
“Yououghtneitherofyoutobeindoorsforaminuteonamorninglikethis,“shedeclared。“Estheriswaitingforyouinthecar,Ithink,Mr。Hamel。“
Geraldpassedonupthestairstohisroom,butHamellingered。
Acuriousimpulseofpitytowardshishostessstirredhim。Themorningsunlightseemedtohavesuddenlyrevealedthetragedyofherlife。Shestoodthere,atired,wornwoman,withtheburdenheavyuponhershoulders。
“WhynotcomeoutwithMissFentolinandme?hesuggested。“WecouldlunchattheGolfClub,outonthebalcony。Iwishyouwould。Can’tyoumanageit?“
Sheshookherhead。
“Thankyouverymuch,“shesaid。“Mr。Fentolindoesnotliketobeleft。“
Somethinginthefinalityofherwordsseemedtohimcuriouslyeloquentofherstateofmind。Shedidnotmoveon。Sheseemed,indeed,tohavetheairofoneanxioustosaymore。Inthatruthlesslight,theadvantagesofherelegantclothesandgracefulcarriageweresuddenlystrippedawayfromher。Shewastheabjectwreckofabeautifulwoman,wizened,prematurelyaged。
Nothingremainedbuttheeyes,whichseemedsomehowtohavetheirmessageforhim。
“Mr。Fentolinisalittlepeculiar,youknow,“shewenton,hervoiceshakingslightlywiththeeffortshewasmakingtokeepitlow。“HeallowsEsthersolittleliberty,sheseessofewyoungpeopleofherownage。Idonotknowwhyheallowsyoutobewithhersomuch。Becareful,Mr。Hamel。“
Hervoiceseemedsuddenlytovibratewithacuriousnoteofsuppressedfear。Almostasshefinishedherspeech,shepassedon。
Herlittlegesturebadehimremainsilent。Asshewentupthestairs,shebegantohumscrapsofalittleFrenchair。
Hamelslicedhisballattheninth,andafterwaitingforafewminutespatiently,Esthercametohelphimlookforit。Hewasstandingdownonthesands,alittleapartfromthetwocaddieswhowerebeatingoutvarioustuftsoflonggrass。
“Wherediditgo?“sheasked。
“Ihavenoidea,“headmitted。
“Whydon’tyouhelplookforit?“
“Searchingforballs,“heinsisted,“isacaddy’soccupation。Boththecaddiesarenowbusy。Letussitdownhere。Thesesandhummocksaredelightful。Itisperfectlysheltered,andthesunisinourfaces。Golfisanoverratedpastime。Letussitandwatchthatlittlestreakofbluefinditswayupbetweenthewhiteposts。“
Shehesitatedforamoment。
“Weshallloseourplace。“
“Thereisnoonebehind。“
Shesankontothelittleknollofsandtowhichhehadpointed,witharesignedsigh。
“Youreallyareaqueerperson,“shedeclared。“Youhavebeenplayinggolfthismorningasthoughyourverylifedependeduponit。
Youhavescarcelymissedashotorspokenaword。Andnow,allofasudden,youwanttositonasandhummockandwatchthetide。“
“Ihavebeensilent,“hetoldher,“becauseIhavebeenthinking。“
“Thatmaybetruthful,“sheremarked,“butyouwouldn’tcallitpolite,wouldyou?“
“Thesubjectofmythoughtsismyexcuse。Ihavebeenthinkingofyou。“
Forasinglemomenthereyesseemedtohavecaughtsomethingofthatsympatheticlightwithwhichhewasregardingher。Thenshelookedaway。
“Wasitmymashieshotsyouwereworryingabout?“sheasked。
“Itwasnot,“herepliedsimply。“Itwasyou-youyourself。“
Shelaughed,notaltogethernaturally。
“Howflattering!“shemurmured。“By-the-by,youareratheradownrightperson,aren’tyou,Mr。Hamel?“
“Somuchso,“headmitted,“thatIamgoingtotellyouoneortwothingsnow。Iamgoingtobeveryfrankindeed。“
Shesatsuddenlyquitestill。Herfacewasturnedfromhim,butforthefirsttimesincehehadknownhertherewasaslightundertoneofcolourinhercheeks。
“Aweekago,“hesaid,“Ihadn’tthefaintestideaofcomingintoNorfolk。Iknewaboutthislittleshantyofmyfather’s,butI
hadforgottenallaboutit。IcameastheresultofaconversationIhadwithafriendwhoisintheForeignOffice。“
Shelookedathimwithstartledeyes。
“Whatdoyoumean?“sheaskedquickly。“YouareMr。Hamel,aren’tyou?“
“Certainly,“hereplied。“NotonlyamIRichardHamel,miningengineer,butIreallyhaveallthatreadingtodoIhavespokenabout,andIreallywaslookingforaquietspottodoitin。ItistruethatIhadthispartoftheworldinmymind,butIdonotthinkthatIshouldeverhavereallydecidedtocomehereifithadnotbeenformyfriendinLondon。HewasveryinterestedindeeddirectlyImentionedSt。David’sTower。Wouldyouliketoknowwhathetoldme?“
“Yes!Goon,please。“
“Hetoldmealittleofthehistoryofyouruncle,Mr。Fentolin,andwhathedidnottellmeatthetime,hehassincesupplemented。
Isuppose,“headded,hesitatingly,“thatyouyourself-“
“Pleasegoon。PleasespeakasthoughIknewnothing。“
“Well,then,“Hamelcontinued,“hetoldmethatyourunclewasatonetimeintheForeignOfficehimself。Heseemedtohaveamostbrilliantcareerbeforehimwhensuddenlytherewasaterriblescandal。Apoliticalsecret-Idon’tknowwhatitwas-hadleakedout。TherewererumoursthatithadbeenacquiredforalargesumofmoneybyaforeignPower。Mr。FentolinretiredtoNorfolk,pendinganinvestigation。Itwasjustasthattimethathemetwithhisterribleaccident,andthematterwasdropped。“
“Goon,please,“shemurmured。
“MyfriendwentontosaythatduringthelastfewyearsMr。FentolinhasonceagainbecomeanobjectofsomesuspiciontotheheadofourSecretServiceDepartment。Foralongtimetheyhaveknownthathewasemployingagentsabroad,andthathewasshowingtheliveliestinterestinundergroundpolitics。Theybelievedthatitwasamerehobby,bornofhisuselesscondition,atasteministeredto,withoutdoubt,bytheoccupationofhisearlierlife。Onceortwicelatelytheyhavehadreasontochangetheirminds。Youknow,Idaresay,inwhataterriblydisturbedstateEuropeanaffairsarejustnow。
Well,myfriendhadanideathatMr。FentolinwasshowinganextraordinaryamountofinterestinacertainconferencewhichweunderstandistotakeplaceatTheHague。Hebeggedmetocomedown,andtowatchyourunclewhileIwasdownhere,andreporttohimanythingthatseemedtomenoteworthy。SincethenIhavehadamessagefromhimconcerningtheAmericanwhomyouentertained-Mr。
JohnP。Dunster。ItappearsthathewasthebearerofveryimportantdispatchesfortheContinent。“
“Buthehasgone,“shesaidquickly。“Nothinghappenedtohim,afterall。Hewentawaywithoutawordofcomplaint。Weallsawhim。“
“Thatisquitetrue,“Hameladmitted。“Mr。Dunsterhascertainlygone。Itisratheracoincidence,however,thatheshouldhavetakenhisdeparturejustastheenquiriesconcerninghiswhereaboutshadreachedsuchastagethatithadbecomequiteimpossibletokeephimconcealedanylonger。“
Sheturnedalittleinherplaceandlookedathimsteadfastly。
“Mr。Hamel,“shesaid,“tellme-whatofyourmission?Youhavehadanopportunityofstudyingmyuncle。Youhaveevenlivedunderhisroof。Tellmewhatyouthink。“