CHAPTER II

THE FIRST DAY'S RUN

Though Medenham was no turf devotee, he formed distinctly unfavorable

conclusions as to the financial stability of the bawling bookmakers

near at hand.

"If you wish to do any betting, Miss Vanrenen," he said, "give me the

money and I will invest it for you. There is no hurry. The Derby will

not be run till three o'clock. We have an hour and a half in which to

study form."

For the life of him he could not imitate the complete annihilation of

self practiced by the well-bred English servant. The American girl

missed the absence of this trait far less than the other woman, but,

by this time, even Mrs. Devar began to accept Medenham's good-humored

assumption of equality as part of the day's amusement.

Cynthia handed him a card. She had bought three while they were

crawling up the hill behind a break-load of jeering Cockneys.

"What will win the first race?" she asked. "Father says you men often

hear more than the owners about the real performances of horses."

Medenham tried to look knowing. He thanked his stars for Dale's

information.

"I am told Eyot has a chance," he said.

"Well, put me a sovereign on Eyot, please. Are _you_ playing the

ponies, Mrs. Devar?"

That lady, being quick-witted, took care not to offend Cynthia by

pretending not to understand, though it set Medenham's teeth on edge

to hear a racehorse called a pony. She opened a gold purse and

produced a coin.

"I don't mind risking a little," she tittered.

Medenham found, however, that she also had handed him a sovereign, and

his conscience smote him, for he guessed already, with accuracy as it

happened, that she was Miss Vanrenen's paid chaperon during the

absence of the girl's father on the Continent.

"Personally, I am a duffer in matters connected with the turf," he

explained. "A friend of mine--a chauffeur--mentioned Eyot----"

"Oh, that is all right," laughed Cynthia. "I like the color--Eau de

Nil and white. Look! There he goes!"

She had good eyes, as well as pretty ones, else she could not have

distinguished the silk jacket worn by the rider of a horse cantering

at that moment along the cleared course. Crowded coaches, four rows

deep, lined the rails near the judge's box, and the gay-hued parasols

of their feminine occupants almost completely blocked the view, a

distant one in any case, owing to the width of the intervening

valley.

Medenham raised no further protest. He walked to a stand where a press

of people betokened the presence of a popular layer of odds, found

that Eyot's price was chalked up at five to one, and backed him for

four pounds. He had to push and elbow his way through a struggling

crowd; immediately after the bet was made, Eyot's quotation was

reduced by two points in response to signals tick-tacked from the

inclosures. This, of course, argued a decided following for Dale's

selection, and these eleventh hour movements in the turf market are

illuminative. Before he got back to the car there was a mighty shout

of "They're off!" and he saw Cynthia Vanrenen stand on the seat to

watch the race through her glasses.

Mrs. Devar stood up, too. Both women were so intent on the troop of

horses now streaming over the crest of the six-furlong course that he

was able to stare his fill without attracting their attention.

"I like Cynthia," he said to himself, "though I shall be in a deuce of

a mess if I meet her anywhere after this piece of masquerading. Not

much chance of that, I expect, seeing that Dad and I go to Scotland

early in July. But what a bore to tumble across Jimmy's mater! I hope

it is not a case of 'like mother like son,' because Jimmy is the

limit."

A strange roar, gathering force and volume each instant, rose from a

hundred thousand throats. Soon the shout became insistent, and Cynthia

Vanrenen yielded to its magnetism.

"Eyot wins!" she cried delightedly. "Yes, none of them can catch him

now. Go on, jockey--don't look round! Oh, if I were your master I'd

give you such a talking to. Ah-h-h! We've won, Mrs. Devar--we've won!

Just think of it!"

"How much, I wonder?" Mrs. Devar, though excited, had the calculating

habit.

"Five pounds each," said Medenham, who had approached unnoticed during

the tumult.

Cynthia's eyes sparkled.

"Five pounds! Why, I heard some betting person over there offering

only three to one."

It was a task beyond his powers to curb an unruly tongue in the

presence of this emancipated schoolgirl. He met her ebullient mood

halfway.

"I have evidently beaten the market--that is, if I get the money.

Horrible thought! I may be welshed!"

He strode back rapidly to the bookmaker's stand.

"What do you think of our chauffeur now?" cried Cynthia radiantly, for

the winning of those few sovereigns was a real joy to her, and the

shadow of the welsher had no terrors, since she did not know what

Medenham meant.

"He improves on acquaintance," admitted Mrs. Devar, thawing a little

under the influence of a successful tip.

He soon returned, and handed them six sovereigns apiece.

"My man paid up like a Briton," he said cheerfully. "I have no

reliable information as to the next race, so what do you ladies say

if we lunch quietly before we attack the ring for the Derby?"

There was an awkward pause. The air of Epsom Downs is stimulating,

especially after one has found the winner of the first race.

"We have not brought anything to eat," admitted Cynthia ruefully. "We

ordered some sandwiches before leaving the hotel, and we mean to stop

for tea at some old-world hotel in Reigate which Mrs. Devar

recommends."

"Unfortunately I was not hungry at sandwich time," sighed Mrs. Devar.

"If it comes to that, neither was I, whereas I have a most unromantic

appetite now. But what can do, as the Babus say in India. I am rather

inclined to doubt the quality of anything we can buy here."

Medenham's face lit up.

"India!" he cried. "Have you been to India?"

"Yes, have you? My father and I passed last cold weather there."

Warned by a sudden expansion of Mrs. Devar's prominent eyes, he gave a

quick turn to a dangerous topic, since it was in Calcutta that the

gallant ex-captain of Horton's Horse had "borrowed" fifty pounds from

him. Naturally, the lady omitted the telltale prefix to her son's

rank, but it was unquestionably true that the British army had

dispensed with his services.

"I was only thinking that acquaintance with the East, Miss Vanrenen,

would prepare you for the mysterious workings of Kismet," said

Medenham lightly. "When I came across Simmonds this morning I was

bewailing the fact that my respected aunt had fallen ill and could not

accompany me to-day. May I offer you the luncheon which I provided for

her?"

He withdrew the wicker basket from its nook beneath the front seat;

before his astonished guests could utter a protest, it was opened, and

he was deftly unpacking the contents.

"But that is _your_ luncheon," protested Cynthia, finding it incumbent

on her to say something by way of polite refusal.

"And his aunt's, my dear."

In those few words Mrs. Devar conveyed skepticism as to the aunt and

ready acceptance of the proffered fare; but Medenham paid no heed; he

had discovered that the napkins, cutlery, even the plates, bore the

family crest. The silver, too, was of a quality that could not fail to

evoke comment.

"Well, here goes!" he growled under his breath. "If I come a purler it

will not be for the first time where women are concerned."

He laughed as he produced some lobster in aspic and a chicken.

"It is jolly useful to have as a friend a butler in a big house," he

said. "I didn't know what Tomkinson had given me, but these

confections look all right."

Mrs. Devar's glance dwelt on the crest the instant she took a plate.

She smiled in her superior way. While Medenham was wrestling with the

cork of a bottle of claret she whispered:

"This is screamingly funny, Cynthia. I have solved the riddle at last.

Our chauffeur is using his master's car and his master's eatables as

well."

"Don't care a cent," said Cynthia, who found the lobster admirable.

"But if any inquiry is made and our names are mixed up in it, Mr.

Vanrenen may be angry."

"Father would be tickled to death. I shall insist on paying for

everything, of course, and my responsibility ends there. No, thank

you--" this to Medenham who was offering her a glass of wine. "I drink

water only. Have you any?"

Mrs. Devar took the wine, and Medenham fished in the basket for the

St. Galmier, since Lady St. Maur cultivated gout with her biliousness.

"Dear me!" she murmured after a sip.

"What is it now?" asked Cynthia.

"Perfect, my dear. Such a bouquet! I wonder what house it came from,"

and she pondered the crest again, but in vain, for heraldry is an

exact science, and the greater part of her education had been given by

a hard world. She did not fail, therefore, to notice that three

persons were catered for by the packer of the basket. An unknown upper

housemaid was already suspect, and now she added mentally "some

shop-girl friend." The climax was reached when Medenham staged the

strawberries. Cynthia, to whom the good things of the table were

commonplaces, ate them and was thankful, but Mrs. Devar made another

note: "Ten shillings a basket, at the very least; and _three

baskets_!"

A deep, booming yell from the mob proclaimed that the second race was

in progress.

"I can't see a thing unless I am perched on the seat, and if I stand

up I shall upset the crockery," announced Cynthia. "But I am not

interested yet awhile. If Grimalkin wins I shall shout myself hoarse."

"He hasn't a ghost of a chance," said Medenham.

"Oh, but he has. Mr. Deane told my father----"

"But Tomkinson told me," he interrupted.

"Tomkinson. Is that your butler friend?"

"Yes. He says the King's horse will win."

"Surely the owner of Grimalkin must know more about the race than a

butler?"

"You would not think so, Miss Vanrenen, if you knew Tomkinson."

"Where is he butler?" asked Mrs. Devar suavely.

"I forget for the moment, madam," replied Medenham with equal suavity.

The lady waived the retort. She was sure of her ground now.

"In any case, I imagine that both Mr. Deane and this Tomkinson may be

mistaken. I am told that a horse trained locally has a splendid

chance--let me see--yes, here it is: the Honorable Charles Fenton's

Vendetta."

It was well that those bulging steel-gray eyes were bent over the

card, or they could not have failed to catch the flicker of amazement

that swept across Medenham's sun-browned face when he heard the name

of his cousin. He had not been in England a full week as yet, and he

happened not to have read a list of probable starters for the Derby.

He had glanced at the programme during breakfast that morning, but

some remark made by the Earl caused him to lay down the newspaper,

and, when next he picked it up, he became interested in an article on

the Cape to Cairo railway, written by someone who had not the remotest

notion of the difficulties to be surmounted before that very desirable

line can be constructed.

Cynthia, however, was watching him, and she laughed gleefully.

"Ah, Fitzroy, you hadn't heard of Vendetta before," she cried.

"Confess now--your faith in Tomkinson is shaken."

"Vendetta certainly does sound like war to the knife," said he.

"It is twenty to one," purred Mrs. Devar complacently. "I shall risk

the five pounds I won on the first race, and it will be very nice if I

receive a hundred."

"I stick to Old Glory," announced the valiant Cynthia.

"The King for me," declared Medenham, though he realized, without any

knowledge of the merits of the horses engaged, that the Honorable

Charles was not the sort of man to run a three-year-old in the Derby

merely for the sake of seeing his racing colors flashing in the sun.

Mrs. Devar kept to her word, and handed over the five pounds. Cynthia

staked seven, the five she had won and the ten dollars of her original

intent: whereupon Medenham said that he must cross the course and make

these bets in the ring--would the ladies raise any objection to his

absence, as he could not return until after the race? No, they were

quite content to remain in the car, so he repacked the luncheon basket

and left them.

Vendetta won by three lengths.

Medenham had secured twenty-five to one, and the bookmaker who paid

him added the genial advice: "Put that little lot where the flies

can't get at it." The man could afford to be affable, seeing that

the bet was the only one in his book against the horse's name. The

King's horse and Grimalkin were the public favorites, but both were

hopelessly shut in at Tattenham Corner, and neither showed in the

front rank at any stage of a fast run race. When Medenham climbed the

hill again, hot and uncomfortable in his leather clothing, Mrs. Devar

actually welcomed him with an expansive smile.

"What odds did you get me?" she cried, as soon as he was within

earshot.

"A hundred and twenty-five pounds to five, madam," he said.

"Oh, what luck! You must keep the odd five pounds, Fitzroy."

"No, thank you. I hedged on Vendetta, so I am still winning."

"But really, I insist."

He handed her a bundle of notes.

"You will find a hundred and thirty pounds there," he said, and

she understood that his refusal to accept her money was final. She

was intensely surprised that he had given her so much more than

she expected, and the first unworthy thought was succeeded by a

second--how dared this impudent chauffeur decline her bounty?

Cynthia pouted at him.

"Your Tomkinson is a fraud," she said.

"Your Grimalkin was well named," said he.

"That remark is very cutting, I suppose, Fitzroy."

"Oh, no. I merely meant to convey that a cat is not a racehorse."

"Poor fellow," mused Cynthia, "he is vexed because he lost. I must

make it up to him somehow, but he is such an extraordinary person, I

hardly dare suggest such a thing."

She began to adjust her veil and dust coat.

"If you are ready, Mrs. Devar," she said, "I think we ought to hit the

pike for Brighton."

Mrs. Devar laughed. Fitzroy evidently understood, as he had taken his

seat and the engine was humming.

"Americanisms are most fascinating," she vowed. "I wish you would use

more of them, Cynthia. I love them."

Cynthia was slightly ruffled, though if pressed for a reason she could

hardly have given one.

"Slang is useful occasionally, but I am trying to cure myself of the

habit," she said tartly.

"A picturesque phrase is always pardonable. Oh, is this quite

safe?----"

The Mercury, finding an opening, had shot down the hill with a smooth

celerity that alarmed the older woman. Cynthia leaned back composedly.

"Fitzroy means to reach the road before the police stop the traffic

for the next race," she said. Then, after a pause, she added: "I wish

we could keep this car for the rest of our tour, yet I suppose I ought

not to interfere in the arrangement father made with Simmonds."

Mrs. Devar frowned. Her momentary tremor had fled, and she had every

cause to regard with uneasiness the threatened substitution during the

forthcoming ten days, of this quite impossible Fitzroy for that very

chauffeur-like person, Simmonds. Her acquaintance with Peter Vanrenen

and his daughter was sufficiently intimate to warn her that Cynthia's

least desire was granted by her indulgent parent; in fact, Cynthia

would have been hopelessly spoilt were it not for a combination of

those happy chances which seem to conspire at times in the creation of

the American girl at her best. She was devoted to her father, her

nature was bright and cheerful, and she had a heart that bubbled over

with kindliness. Mrs. Devar chose the right line of attack. She

resolved to appeal to the girl's sympathies.

"I am afraid it would be a rather cruel thing to deprive Simmonds of

his engagement," she said softly. "He has bought a car, I understand,

on the strength of the contract with Mr. Vanrenen----"

"That doesn't cut any ice--I mean there would be no ill effect for

Simmonds," explained Cynthia hurriedly. "Father will meet us in London

at the end of our run, and Simmonds could come to us then."

The steel-gray eyes narrowed. Their owner was compelled to decide

quickly. As opposition was useless, she laughed, with the careless

ease of one who was in no way concerned.

"Don't you think," she said, "that if your father sees this car

Simmonds will be dispensed with somehow?"

Cynthia nodded. The argument was unanswerable.

They were crossing the course at a walking pace; at that point a sort

of passage was kept clear by the police for the convenience of those

occupants of the stands who wished to visit the paddock. The owner

of Vendetta, having been congratulated by royalty, was taking some

friends to admire the horse during the rubbing-down process, when his

glance suddenly fell on Medenham. Though amazed, he was not rendered

speechless.

"Well, I'm----" he began.

But the Mercury possessed a singularly loud and clear motor-horn, and

the voice of the Honorable Charles was drowned. Still, his gestures

were eloquent. Quite obviously, he was saying to a man whose arm he

caught:

"Did you ever in your life see anybody more like George than that

chauffeur? Why, damme, it is Medenham!"

So Mrs. Devar lost a golden opportunity. She knew Fenton by sight, and

her shrewd wits must have set her on the right track had she witnessed

his bewilderment. Being a pretentious person, however, and not able to

afford the up-keep of a motor, she was enjoying the surprise of two

well-dressed women who recognized her. Then the car leaped forward

again, and she scored a dearly won triumph.

At this crisis Medenham's scrutiny of the road map provided by

Simmonds for the tour was well repaid. He turned sharp to the right

past the back of the stands, and was fortunate in finding enough clear

road to render pursuit by his elderly cousin a vain thing, even if it

were thought of. The Mercury had to cross the caravan zone carefully,

but once Tattenham Corner was reached the way lay open to Reigate.

Through a land of gorse and heather they sped until they came to the

famous hill. They ran down in a noiseless flight that caused Cynthia

to experience the sensation of being borne on wings.

"I imagine that aeroplaning is something like this," she confided to

her companion.

"If it is, it must be enjoyable. I don't suppose, at my time of

life, I shall ever try to navigate the air in one of those frail

contrivances pictured in the newspapers. But I was nearly tempted to

go up in a balloon two years ago."

Cynthia stole a glance at Mrs. Devar's rotund figure, and laughed. She

could not help it, though she flushed furiously at what she deemed an

involuntary rudeness on her part.

"Oh, it sounds funny, I have no doubt," said the other, placidly

good-tempered, "but I really meant it at the moment. You have met

Count Edouard Marigny, I fancy?"

"Yes, in Paris last month. In fact----"

Cynthia hesitated. She had scarcely recovered from the excitement of

the racing and was not choosing her words quite happily. Mrs. Devar,

still sugary, ended the sentence.

"In fact, it was he who recommended me to Mr. Vanrenen as your

chaperon. Yes, my dear, Monsieur Marigny and I are old friends. He and

my son are inseparable when Captain Devar is in Paris. Well, as I was

saying, the Count offered to take me up in his balloon, L'Etoile, and

I was ready to go, but the weather became stormy and an ascent from

the Velo was impossible, or highly dangerous, at any rate."

Mrs. Devar cultivated the high-pitched voice that she regarded as

the hall-mark of good breeding, and, in that silent rush downhill,

Medenham could not avoid hearing each syllable. It was eminently

pleasing to listen to Cynthia's praise of his car, and he was wroth

with the other woman for wrenching the girl's thoughts away so

promptly from a topic dear to his heart. Therein he erred, for the

gods were being kind to him. Little recking how valuable was the

information he had just been given, he slackened speed somewhat, and

leaned back in the seat.

"We are nearing Reigate now," he remarked with half-turned head. "The

town begins on the other side of that tunnel. Which inn do you wish to

stop at for tea?"

"It seems to me that I have barely ended lunch," said Cynthia. "Shall

we cut out your old-world Reigate inn, Mrs. Devar, and take tea at

Crawley or Handcross?"

"By all means. How well you know the names of the towns and villages.

Yet you have never before visited this part of England."

"We Americans are nothing if not thorough," answered the girl. "I

would not be happy if I failed to look up our route on the map. More

than that, I note the name of each river we cross and try to identify

every range of hills. You must test me and count my mistakes."

Mrs. Devar spread her hands in a gesture copied from her French

acquaintances.

"My dear, I am the most ignorant person geographically. I remember how

that delightful Count Edouard laughed when I asked him if the Loire

joined the Seine above or below Paris. It seems that I was thinking of

the Oise all the time. The Marchioness of Belfort told me of my error

afterwards."

Cynthia laughed merrily, but made no reply.

Medenham bent over the levers and the car danced on through Reigate.

Mrs. Devar impressed him as a despicable type of tuft-hunter. His

acquaintance with the species was not extensive; he had read of

elderly dowagers who eked out their slender means by introducing the

daughters of rich Americans to English society, and the thing was not

in itself wholly indefensible; but he felt sure that Cynthia Vanrenen

needed no such social sponsor, while the mere bracketing of Count

Edouard Marigny with "Jimmy" Devar caused him to regard this unknown

Frenchman with a suspicion that was already active enough so far as

Mrs. Devar was concerned. And the Marchioness of Belfort, too! A

decrepit old cadger with an infallible system for roulette!

Perhaps his mood communicated itself to the accelerator. At any rate,

the Mercury seemed to sympathize, and it was a lucky hazard that kept

the glorious stretch of road between Reigate and Crawley free of

police traps on that memorable Wednesday. The car simply leaped out

of Surrey into Sussex, the undulating parklands on both sides of the

smooth highway appearing to float past in stately procession, and

there was a fine gleam in Cynthia's blue eyes when the first check to

a splendid run came in the outskirts of Crawley.

She leaned forward and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Tea here, please," she said. Then she added, as if it were an

afterthought: "If you promise to let her rip in that style after we

reach the open country again I shall sit on the front seat."

The words were almost whispered into his ear. Certainly they were not

meant to enlighten Mrs. Devar, and Medenham, turning, found his face

very near the girl's.

"I'm bribed," he answered, and not until both were settled back in

their seats did they realize that either had said anything unusual.

Medenham, however, took his cup of tea _a la chauffeur_, helping

himself to bread and butter from a plate deposited on the bonnet by a

waiting-maid.

When the ladies reappeared from the interior of a roadside restaurant

he was in his place, ready to start. He did not offer to put them in

the car, adjust their wraps, and close the door. If Miss Vanrenen

liked to keep her promise, that was her affair, but no action on his

part would hint of prior knowledge that she intended to ride in front.

Nevertheless, he could not repress a smile when he heard Mrs. Devar's

distinctly chilly, "Oh, not at all!" in response to Cynthia's polite

apology for deserting her until they neared Brighton.

Somehow, the car underwent a subtle change when the girl took her seat

by his side. From a machine quivering with life and power it became a

triumphal chariot. By sheer perfection of mechanical energy it had

bridged the gulf that lay between the millionaire's daughter and the

hired man, since there could be no question that Cynthia Vanrenen

placed Viscount Medenham in no other category. Indeed, his occasional

lapses from the demeanor of a lower social grade might well have

earned him her marked disfavor, and, as there was no shred of personal

vanity in his character, he gave all the credit to the sentient

creature of steel and iron that was so ready to respond to his touch.

Swayed by an unconscious telepathy, the girl almost interpreted his

unspoken thought. She watched his deft manipulation of levers and

brakes, and fancied that his hands dwelt on the steering-wheel with a

caress.

"You have a real lovely automobile, Fitzroy," she said, "and I have a

sort of notion that you are devoted to it. May I ask--is it your own

car?"

"Yes. I bought it six months ago. I learnt to drive in France, and, as

soon as I heard of the new American engine, I--er--couldn't rest until

I had tried it."

He was on the point of saying something wholly different, but managed

to twist the second half of the sentence in time. What would Miss

Vanrenen have thought had he continued: "I sent my chauffeur to

England, and, on receipt of his report, I had this car shipped within

a week?"

There are problems too deep for speculation when a man is guiding a

ton of palpitating metal along a hedge-lined road at forty miles an

hour. This was one.

Cynthia, knowing nothing of any "new American engine," would die

rather than confess her ignorance. Moreover, she was pondering a

problem of her own. If it was not his master's car he might be open

to a bargain.

"Simmonds is an old friend of yours, I suppose?" she said.

"Yes, I have known him some years. We were in South Africa together."

"In the war, do you mean?"

"Yes."

"How dreadful! Have you ever killed anybody?"

"Not with petrol, I am happy to state."

There was an eloquent pause. Cynthia examined his reply, and

discovered that it covered a good deal of ground. Perhaps, too, it

conveyed the least little bit of a snub. Hence, her tone stiffened

perceptibly.

"I mentioned Simmonds," she explained, "because I think my father

might arrange--to the satisfaction of all parties, of course--that you

should carry through this present tour, while Simmonds would come into

our service when we return to London."

Medenham laughed. In its way, the compliment was graceful and well

meant, but the utter absurdity of his position was now thrust upon him

with overwhelming force.

"I am very much obliged to you, Miss Vanrenen," he said, venturing

to look once more into those alluring eyes, so shy, so daring, so

divinely wise and childishly candid. "If circumstances permitted,

there is nothing I would like better than to take you through this

Paradise of a June England; but it is quite impossible. Simmonds must

bring his car to Bristol, as I positively cannot be absent from town

longer than three days."

Cynthia did not pout. She nodded appreciation of the weighty if

undescribed business that called Fitzroy and his Mercury back to

London, but in her heart she mused on the strangeness of things, and

wondered if this smiling land produced many chauffeurs who lauded it

in such phrases.

Up and down Handcross Hill they whirred, treating that respectable

eminence as if it were a snow bump in the path of a flying toboggan.

Medenham had roamed the South Downs as a boy, and he was able now to

point out Chanctonbury Ring, the Devil's Dyke, Ditchling Beacon, and

the rest of the round-shouldered giants that guard the Weald. In the

mellow light of a superlatively fine afternoon the Downs wore their

gayest raiment of blue and purple, red and green--decked, too, with

ribands of white roads and ruffs of rose-laden hedges.

Cynthia forgot many times, and he hardly ever remembered, that he

was a chauffeur, and the miles, too, were disregarded until the sea

sparkled in their eyes as they emerged from the great gap which the

Devil forebore to use when he planned to swamp a land of churches by

cutting the famous dyke.

Then the girl awoke from a day-dream, and the car was stopped on the

pretense that this marvelous landscape must be viewed in silence and

at rest. She rejoined Mrs. Devar, and began instantly to expatiate on

the beauties of Sussex, so Medenham ran slowly down the hill through

Patcham and Preston into Brighton.

And there, sitting in the wide porch of the Hotel Metropole, was a

slim, handsome Frenchman, who sprang up with all the vivacity of his

race when the Mercury drew up at the foot of the steps, dusty after

its long run, but circumspect as though it had just quitted the

garage.

"Mrs. Devar, Miss Vanrenen! what a delightful surprise!" cried the

stranger with an accompaniment of wide smiles and hat flourishing.

"Who would have thought of meeting you here? _Voyez_, _donc_, I was

moping in solitude when suddenly the sky opens and you appear."

"_Deae ex machina_, in fact, Monsieur Marigny," said Cynthia, shaking

hands with this overjoyed gentleman.

Mrs. Devar, not understanding, cackled loudly.

"We've had a lovely run from town, Count Edouard," she gushed, "and it

is just too awfully nice of you to be in Brighton. Now, _don't_ say

you have made all sorts of engagements for the evening."

"Such as they are they go by the board, dear lady," said the gallant

Count, who had good teeth, and showed them in a succession of grins.

"Ten to-morrow morning, Fitzroy," said Cynthia, turning on the steps

as she was about to enter the hotel. He lifted his cap.

"The car will be ready, Miss Vanrenen," said he.

He got down, and scowled, yes, actually scowled, at a porter who was

hauling too strongly at the straps and buckles of the dust-covered

trunks.

"Damage the car's paint and I'll raise bigger blisters on yours," was

what he said to the man. But his thoughts were of Count Edouard

Marigny, and, like the people's discussion of the Derby, they took the

form of question and answer.

"When is a coincidence not a coincidence?" he asked himself.

"When it is prearranged," was the answer.

Then he drove round to the yard at the rear of the hotel, where Dale

awaited him, for Medenham would intrust the cleaning of the car to no

other hands.

"You've booked my room at the Grand Hotel and taken my bag there?" he

inquired.

"Yes, my lord."

"Make these people give you the key when the door is locked for the

night, and bring the car to my hotel at nine o'clock."

He hurried away, and Dale looked after him.

"Something must ha' worried his lordship," said the man. "First time

I've ever seen him in a bad temper. An' what about Eyot? Three to one

the paper says. P'raps he'll think of it in the morning."