So off we set for
the "big house."
On the way the doctor gave his guest a certain amount of general
information concerning the people they were going to meet, but as Mr.
Hobhouse happened to know it already, it need not be chronicled here.
As the pair approached the weather beaten old mansion, looking now in
its true setting against the wintry sky, Thomas Sylvester became acutely
conscious of the return of a familiar sensation. It was, in fact,
precisely the sensation which one Roger Merton had enjoyed when waiting
for his cue to step from dim obscurity into the flare of the footlights
on the first night of a new drama. Would his old acquaintances accept Mr.
Hobhouse without question as an entire stranger? If he spied so much as
one suspicious questioning glance, his whole scheme was exploded.
We were shown into the drawing room, and to my great relief Mr. Rendall
was the first to appear, for I felt I could stand the scrutiny of Jean's
bright eyes a deal more readily if I had once got into the swing of talk
with her father. In his eye there was certainly no trace of question.
With his dry and formidable courtesy he greeted Mr. Hobhouse and in a
minute or two they were talking away in that friendly fashion which Mr.
Hobhouse was pleased to notice people fell into very readily with him.
Pages:
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145