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Page 30
They were descending the hillside now. At their feet lay the little
town, black and silent.
"You have helped me to understand a little," Philippa said. "You
put things so gently and yet so clearly. Now tell me, will you not,
how it is that you, who are a Swede by birth, are bearing arms for
Germany?"
"That is very simple," he confessed. "My mother was a German, and
when she died she bequeathed to me large estates in Bavaria, and a
very considerable fortune. These I could never have inherited
unless I had chosen to do my military service in Germany. My family
is an impoverished one, and I have brothers and sisters dependent
upon me. Under the circumstances, hesitation on my part was
impossible."
"But when the war came?" she queried.
He looked at her in surprise.
"What was there left for me then?" he demanded. "Naturally I heard
nothing but the voice of those whom I had sworn to obey. I was in
that mad rush through Belgium. I was wounded at Maubeuge, or else
I should have followed hard on the heels of that wonderful retreat
of yours. As it was, I lay for many months in hospital. I joined
again--shall I confess it?--almost unwillingly. The bloodthirstiness
of it all sickened me. I fought at Ypres, but I think that it was
something of the courage of despair, of black misery. I was wounded
again and decorated. I suppose I shall never be fit for the front
again. I tried to turn to account some of my knowledge of England
and English life. Then they sent me here."
"Here, of all places in the world!" Philippa repeated wonderingly.
"Just look at us! We have a single line of railway, a perfectly
straightforward system of roads, the ordinary number of soldiers
being trained, no mysteries, no industries--nothing. What terrible
scheme are you at work upon, Mr. Lessingham?"
He smiled.
"Between you and me," he confided, "I am not at all sure that I am
not here on a fool's errand--at least I thought so when I arrived."
She glanced up at him.
"And why not now?"
He made no answer, but their eyes met and Philippa looked hurriedly
away. There was a moment's queer, strained silence. Before them
loomed up the outline of Mainsail Haul.
"You will come in and have some tea, won't you?" she invited.
"If I may. Believe me," he added, "it has only been a certain
diffidence that has kept me away so long."
She made no reply, and they entered the house together. They found
Helen and Nora, with three or four young men from the Depot, having
tea in the drawing-room. Lessingham slipped very easily into the
pleasant little circle. If a trifle subdued, his quiet manners,
and a sense of humour which every now and then displayed itself,
were most attractive.
"Wish you'd come and dine with us and meet our colonel, sir,"
Harrison asked him. "He was at Magdalen a few years after Major
Felstead, and I am sure you'd find plenty to talk about."
"I am quite sure that we should," Lessingham replied. "May I come,
perhaps, towards the end of next week? I am making most strenuous
efforts to lead an absolutely quiet life here."
"Whenever you like, sir. We sha'n't be able to show you anything
very wild in the way of dissipation. Vintage port and a decent
cigar are the only changes we can make for guests."
Philippa drew her visitor on one side presently, and made him sit
with her in a distant corner of the room.
"I knew there was something I wanted to say to you," she began, "but
somehow or other I forgot when I met you. My husband was very much
struck with Helen's improved spirits. Don't you think that we had
better tell him, when he returns, that we had heard from Major
Felstead?"
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