"
Sir Timothy leaned back to speak to them as they passed.
"You will find a friend over there, Ledsam," he said.
Wilmore turned around and faced them. The two men exchanged
somewhat surprised greetings.
"No idea that I was coming until this afternoon," Wilmore
explained. "I got my card at five o'clock, with a note from Sir
Timothy's secretary. I am racking my brains to imagine what it
can mean."
"We're all a little addled," Francis confessed. "Come and join
our tour of exploration. You know Lady Cynthia. Let me present
you to Mrs. Hilditch."
The introduction was effected and they all, strolled on together.
Margaret and Lady Cynthia led the way into the winter-garden, a
palace of glass, tall palms, banks of exotics, flowering shrubs
of every description, and a fountain, with wonderfully carved
water nymphs, brought with its basin from Italy. Hidden in the
foliage, a small orchestra was playing very softly. The
atmosphere of the place was languorous and delicious.
"Leave us here," Margaret insisted, with a little exclamation of
content. "Neither Cynthia nor I want to go any further. Come
back and fetch us in time for our appointment."
The two men wandered off. The place was indeed a marvel of
architecture, a country house, of which only the shell remained,
modernised and made wonderful by the genius of a great architect.
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