第11章

“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。