The “Glenveigh Arms” was an unpretentious hostelry, standing close to the roadside, from which a narrow strip of gravel and a low laurel hedge divided it—a long, plain, whitewashed house, with nothing attractive in its appearance. Strangers little guessed how comfortable it was within, and what a really beautiful old garden lay concealed behind it.
Motors whirled by in a cloud of dust and ignorance, making for a fine new tourist hotel some miles ahead. Mrs. Hogan did not approve of these “mad” cars, that went racking and tearing through the country, killing dogs and poultry and scaring the cattle out of their seven senses! and made no attempt to secure their custom. The word “Garage” was not advertised along with “Mary Hogan, Livery and Bait Stables.”
All the same, about a week after Mary’s expedition to Lota, a smart bright red Mercédès car, containing four passengers, halted and palpitated outside the hotel.
It contained two men in motoring coats and goggles, the chauffeur in black leather; a valet sat beside him, and there was a certain amount of luggage, indicating that the party was making an extensive tour. The two gentlemen got out and went into the hotel. The tallest of them, when he removed his mask, proved to be a man of about thirty, with a dark, handsome face, a clean-cut profile, and a pair of sleepy eyes. He was Captain Dudley Deverell, Lord Mulgrave’s cousin, and heir. His companion, Sir Harry Coxford, was a tubby little round-faced man with a red moustache and many freckles. The two travellers were ceremoniously ushered into the drawing-room.
“No, we don’t want rooms, thanks,” said Captain Deverell, in a pleasant drawl. “Want to see Lord Mulgrave—heard he was here.”
“His lordship left ten days ago,” said a trim, black-whiskered waiter, who looked like a Methodist parson in evening dress. “We don’t expect his lordship back at present.”
“No”—looking round superciliously—“I should think not.”
“But a—any message or letter to his lordship, will a—be forwarded to his lordship?”
“Oh, it’s of no consequence. We were in this part of the world and happened to hear he’d been here, and we looked in on chance, that’s all.”
“Can I get you two gentlemen any refreshment?”