Part 34 (1/2)
Three-quarters of an hour later I deposited them at their destination, the ”G.o.ddard Arms,” in Old Swindon, and, descending, received their profuse thanks, the elder lady giving me her card with an address in Earl's Court Road, Kensington, and asking me to call upon her when in London.
It was then half an hour past midnight, but Bennett and I resolved to push forward as far as Oxford, which we did, arriving at the ”Mitre”
about half-past one, utterly f.a.gged and worn out.
Next day was brighter, and we proceeded north to Birmingham and across once again to the east coast, where the bulk of my work lay.
About a fortnight went by. With the a.s.sistance of two well-known staff-officers I had been reconnoitring the country around Beccles, in Suffolk, which we had decided upon as a most important strategical point, and one morning I found myself at that old-fas.h.i.+oned hotel ”The Cups,” at Colchester, taking a day's rest. The two officers had returned to London, and I was again alone.
Out in the garage I found a rather smart, good-looking man in navy serge chatting with Bennett and admiring my car. My chauffeur, with pardonable pride, had been telling him of our long journey, and as I approached, the stranger informed me of his own enthusiasm as a motorist.
”Curiously enough,” he added, ”I have been wis.h.i.+ng to meet you, in order to thank you for your kindness to my mother and sister the other night at Salisbury. My name is Sandford--Charles Sandford--and if I'm not mistaken we are members of the same club--White's.”
”Are we?” I exclaimed. ”Then I'm delighted to make your acquaintance.”
We lounged together for half an hour, smoking and chatting, until presently he said:
”I live out at Edwardstone, about ten miles from here. Why not come out and dine with me to-night? My place isn't very extensive, but it's cosy enough for a bachelor. I'd feel extremely honoured if you would. I'm all alone. Do come.”
Cosmopolitan that I am, yet I am not p.r.o.ne to accept the invitations of strangers. Nevertheless this man was not altogether a stranger, for was he not a member of my own club? Truth to tell, I had become bored by the deadly dullness of country hotels, therefore I was glad enough to accept his proffered hospitality and spend a pleasant evening.
”Very well,” he said. ”I'll send a wire to my housekeeper, and I'll pilot you in your car to my place this evening. We'll start at seven, and dine at eight--if that will suit you?”
And so it was arranged.
Bennett had the whole of the day to go through the car and do one or two necessary repairs, while Sandford and myself idled about the town. My companion struck me as an exceedingly pleasant fellow, who, having travelled very extensively, now preferred a quiet existence in the country, with a little hunting and a little shooting in due season, to the dinners, theatres, and fevered haste of London life.
The evening proved a very dark one with threatening rain as we turned out of the yard of ”The Cups,” Sandford and I seated behind. My friend directed Bennett from time to time, and soon we found ourselves out on the Sudbury road. We pa.s.sed through a little place which I knew to be Heyland, and then turned off to the right, across what seemed to be a wide stretch of bleak, open country.
Over the heath we went, our head-lights glaring far before us, for about two miles when my friend called to Bennett:
”Turn to the left at the cross-roads.”
And a few moments later we were travelling rather cautiously up a rough by-road, at the end of which we came to a long, old-fas.h.i.+oned house--a farm-house evidently, transformed into a residence.
The door was opened by a middle-aged, red-faced man-servant, and as I stepped within the small hall hung with foxes' masks, brushes, and other trophies, my friend wished me a hearty welcome to his home.
The dining-room proved to be an old-fas.h.i.+oned apartment panelled from floor to ceiling. The table, set for two, bore a fine old silver candelabra, a quant.i.ty of antique plate, and, adorned with flowers, was evidently the table of a man who was comfortably off.
We threw off our heavy coats and made ourselves cosy beside the fire when the servant, whom my host addressed as Henry, brought in the soup.
Therefore we went to the table and commenced.
The meal proved a well-cooked and well-chosen one, and I congratulated him upon his cook.
”I'm forty, and for twenty years I was constantly on the move,” he remarked, with a laugh. ”Nowadays I'm glad to be able to settle down in England.”
A moment later I heard the sound of a car leaving the house.
”Is that my car?” I asked, rather surprised.
”Probably your man is taking it round to the back in order to put it under cover. Hark! it has started to rain.”