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Page 32
"We are very pleased to see you at any time, Captain Griffiths,"
Philippa said hospitably. "Do sit down, please."
Captain Griffiths bowed but remained standing.
"It is very near your dinner-time, I know, Lady Cranston," he
continued apologetically. "The fact of it is, however, that as
Commandant here it is my duty to examine the bona fides of any
strangers in the place. There is a gentleman named Lessingham
staying at the hotel, who I understand gave your name as
reference."
Philippa's eyes looked larger than ever, and her face more innocent,
as she gazed up at her visitor.
"Why, of course, Captain Griffiths," she said. "Mr. Lessingham
was at college with my brother, and one of his best friends. He
has shot down at my father's place in Cheshire."
"You are speaking of your brother, Major Felstead?"
"My only brother."
"I am very much obliged to you, Lady Cranston," Captain Griffiths
declared. "I can see that we need not worry any more about Mr.
Lessingham."
Philippa laughed.
"It seems rather old-fashioned to think of you having to worry about
any one down here," she observed. "It really is a very harmless
neighbourhood, isn't it?"
"There isn't much going on, certainly," the Commandant admitted.
"Very dull the place seems at times."
"Now be perfectly frank," Philippa begged him. "Is there a single
fact of importance which could be learnt in this place, worth
communicating to the enemy? Is the danger of espionage here worth
a moment's consideration?"
"That," Captain Griffiths replied in somewhat stilted fashion, "is
not a question which I should be prepared to answer off-hand."
Philippa shrugged her shoulders and appealed almost feverishly to
Helen, who had just entered the room.
"Helen, do come and listen to Captain Griffiths! He is making me
feel quite creepy. There are secrets about, it seems, and he wants
to know all about Mr. Lessingham."
Helen smiled with complete self-possession.
"Well, we can set his mind at rest about Mr. Lessingham, can't we?"
she observed, as she shook hands.
"We can do more," Philippa declared. "We can help him to judge for
himself. We are expecting Mr. Lessingham for dinner, Captain
Griffiths. Do stay."
"I couldn't think of taking you by storm like this," Captain
Griffiths replied, with a wistfulness which only made his voice
sound hoarser and more unpleasant. "It is most kind of you, Lady
Cranston. Perhaps you will give me another opportunity."
"I sha'n't think of it," Philippa insisted. "You must stay and
dine to-night. We shall be a partie carr�e, for Nora goes to bed
directly after dinner. I am ringing the bell to tell Mills to set
an extra place," she added.
Captain Griffiths abandoned himself to fate with a little shiver of
complacency. He welcomed Lessingham, who was presently announced,
with very much less than his usual reserve, and the dinner was in
every way a success. Towards its close, Philippa became a little
thoughtful. She glanced more than once at Lessingham, who was
sitting by her side, almost in admiration. His conversation, gay
at times, always polished, was interlarded continually with those
little social reminiscences inevitable amongst men moving in a
certain circle of English society. Apparently Richard Felstead
was not the only one of his college friends with whom he had kept
in touch. The last remnants of Captain Griffiths' suspicions
seemed to vanish with their second glass of port, although his
manner became in no way more genial.
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