"I can't think," said Mrs. Tribe. "As soon as he had sent someone after a doctor and bandaged Stephen up, he ran away from us."
Sir Joseph repeated "ran away from you," with an air of complete mystification, and Miss Mallowcoid raised her brows more than ever, as if to imply that she, at least, expected nothing else.
"Yes," added Leonetta, "he left us and went in the direction of 'The Fastness'."
"I wonder where that jackass has gone for a doctor?" exclaimed the baronet after a while. "Did you see the car go?"
"Yes," whispered Leonetta, "the car left long before we had brought Stephen here. We wanted it to drop him first, but he insisted on walking."
Then in the distance the sound of a familiar motor-horn was heard, and through the trees could be seen the glittering brass-work of a car. The baronet's head chauffeur in smart mufti was driving,—he had been caught just as he was setting out for an evening in Folkestone,—and the car darted along the drive, and gracefully took all the corners in a manner that gladdened the hearts of the anxious spectators on the terrace.
A grating of wheels on the ground, a spasmodic lunge forward, and the vehicle stopped dead at the foot of the steps.
An elderly gentleman descended from the car.
"Thank goodness!" cried Mrs. Delarayne, "it's Dr. Thackeray!"