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"It is the niece of a man whom I know very well in Medchester," he exclaimed. "Something must have happened to her uncle. It is most extraordinary." Brooks met the butler entering the room with a card upon his salver. He stretched out his hand for it mechanically, but the man only regarded him in mild surprise. "For his lordship, sir. Excuse me." The man passed on. Brooks remained bewildered.
"First of all then," she said, "I hear that you are leaving Medchester, giving up your business and coming to live in London, and that you have had some money left you. Do you know that all this sounds very mysterious?" "I admit it," he answered, slowly stirring his tea. "Yet in the main it is true." "How nice to hear all about it," she sighed, contentedly.
Brooks had ridden a bicycle from Medchester, and his trousers and boots were splashed with mud. His presence at Enton was due to an impulse, the inspiration of which he had already begun seriously to doubt. Arranmore's kindly reception of him was more than ordinarily welcome. "I am very glad to see you, Mr. Brooks," he said, holding out his hand.
"How well you play those cannons. "I ought to. I had lessons for years. Is he a native of Medchester?" Lord Arranmore was blandly puzzled. She finished her stroke and turned towards him. "Mr. Brooks, you know. We were talking of him." "Of course we were," he answered. "I do not think so. He is an orphan. I met his father in Canada." "He reminds me of some one," she remarked, in a puzzled tone.
I er I wanted to ask you a question. "Well?" "About that fellow Brooks I met at your place down at Enton. Lawyer at Medchester, isn't he? I thought that he and Sybil seemed a bit thick somehow. Don't suppose there could have been anything in it, eh? He's no one in particular, I suppose. Lady Caroom wouldn't be likely to listen to anything between Sybil and him?" Arranmore raised his eyebrows.
I called at Ascough's, and learned that you were in practice in Medchester. I am now living for a short time not far from here, and reading of the election, I drove in to-night to attend one of the meetings I scarcely cared which. I heard your name, saw you on the platform, and called here, hoping to find you." "It was very kind," Brooks said. He felt curiously tongue-tied.
He raised his hat to the Marquis and his party, and the former nodded good-humouredly. There was silence until the two were in the street. Then one of the men who had been looking after them dropped his eye-glass. "I tell you what," he said to his vis-a-vis. "There's some chance for us in Medchester after all. I don't believe Arranmore is popular amongst the ladies of his own neighbourhood."
"I had a visit a few days ago from a worthy Medchester gentleman connected with it." "It is concerning that visit, Lord Arranmore, that I have come to see you," Brooks continued, quietly. "I only heard of it yesterday afternoon, but this morning it seems to me that every one whom I have met has alluded to it." The Marquis was lounging against the broad mantelpiece.
"I should not have intruded without a purpose," Brooks said, quietly, "but you will be almost justified in treating my visit as an impertinence when I have disclosed my errand. Lord Arranmore, I am the secretary for the fund which is being raised in Medchester for the relief of the Unemployed." Arranmore nodded. "Oh, yes," he said.
He was of more than ordinary height, and dressed in the plainest dinner garb of the day, but his dinner jacket, his black tie and the set of his shirt were revelations to Brooks, who dealt only with the Medchester tradespeople. He did not hold out his hand, but he eyed Brooks with a sort of critical survey, which the latter found a little disconcerting. "You wished to see me, sir?" Brooks asked.
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