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Page 17
"Now M. Harley and M. Knox," said Madame, vivaciously, "you are quite
at home. Pedro will show you to your rooms and lunch will be ready in
half an hour."
She waved her white hand coquettishly, and ignoring the proffered aid
of Miss Beverley, wheeled her chair away at a great rate under a sort
of arch on the right of the hall, which communicated with the domestic
offices of the establishment.
"Is she not wonderful?" exclaimed Colonel Menendez, taking Harley's
left arm and my right and guiding us upstairs followed by Pedro and the
chauffeur, the latter carrying our grips. "Many women would be
prostrated by such an affliction, but she--" he shrugged his shoulders.
Harley and I had been placed in adjoining rooms. I had never seen such
rooms as those in Cray's Folly. The place contained enough oak to have
driven a modern builder crazy. Oak had simply been lavished upon it. My
own room, which was almost directly above the box hedge to which I have
referred, had a beautiful carved ceiling and a floor as highly polished
as that of a ballroom. It was tastefully furnished, but the foreign
note was perceptible everywhere.
"We have here some grand prospects," said the Colonel, and truly enough
the view from the great, high, wide window was a very fine one.
I perceived that the grounds of Cray's Folly were extensive and
carefully cultivated. I had a glimpse of a Tudor sunken garden, but the
best view of this was from the window of Harley's room, which because
it was the end room on the north front overlooked another part of the
grounds, and offered a prospect of the east lawns and distant park
land.
When presently Colonel Menendez and I accompanied my friend there I was
charmed by the picturesque scene below. Here was a real old herbal
garden, gay with flowers and intersected by tiled moss-grown paths.
There were bushes exhibiting fantastic examples of the topiary art, and
here, too, was a sun-dial. My first impression of this beautiful spot
was one of delight. Later I was to regard that enchanted demesne with
something akin to horror; but as we stood there watching a gardener
clipping the bushes I thought that although Cray's Folly might be
adjudged ugly, its grounds were delightful.
Suddenly Harley turned to our host. "Where is the famous tower?" he
enquired. "It is not visible from the front of the house, nor from the
drive."
"No, no," replied the Colonel, "it is right out at the end of the east
wing, which is disused. I keep it locked up. There are four rooms in
the tower and a staircase, of course, but it is inconvenient. I cannot
imagine why it was built."
"The architect may have had some definite object in view," said Harley,
"or it may have been merely a freak of his client. Is there anything
characteristic about the topmost room, for instance?"
Colonel Menendez shrugged his massive shoulders. "Nothing," he
replied. "It is the same as the others below, except that there is a
stair leading to a gallery on the roof. Presently I will take you up,
if you wish."
"I should be interested," murmured Harley, and tactfully changed the
subject, which evidently was not altogether pleasing to our host. I
concluded that he had found the east wing of the house something of a
white elephant, and was accordingly sensitive upon the point.
Presently, then, he left us and I returned to my own room, but before
long I rejoined Harley. I did not knock but entered unceremoniously.
"Halloa!" I exclaimed. "What have you seen?"
He was standing staring out of the window, nor did he turn as I
entered.
"What is it?" I said, joining him.
He glanced at me oddly.
"An impression," he replied; "but it has gone now."
"I understand," I said, quietly.
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