The Duke stood with knitted brows. He seemed on the point of asking me some other question, but apparently he abandoned the idea. He nodded again and rang the bell. I was dismissed.
CHAPTER VI
LADY ANGELA GIVES ME SOME ADVICE
Rowchester was a curious medley of a house, a mixture of farmhouse, mansion, and castle, added to apparently in every generation by men with varying ideas of architecture. The front was low and irregular, and a grey stone terrace ran the entire length, with several rows of steps leading down into the garden. On one of these, as I emerged from the house, Lady Angela was standing talking to a gardener. She turned round at the sound of my footsteps, and came at once towards me.
She was bareheaded, and looked as straight and slim as a dart. I fancied that she could be no more than eighteen, her figure and face were so girlish. The quiet composure of her manner, however, and the subdued yet graceful ease of her movements, were so suggestive of the "great lady," that it was hard to believe that she was indeed little more than a schoolgirl.
"I hope that you are better, Mr. Ducaine," she said.
"Thank you, Lady Angela, I have quite recovered," I answered.
She looked at me critically.
"I can assure you," she said, "that you look a very different person.
You gave us quite a fright last night."
"I am ashamed to have been so much trouble," I answered. "Such a thing has never happened to me before."