V
Mr. Steppe, with a gardenia in his buttonhole, leaned out of the window of his car and waved his yellow glove in greeting and Beryl, who was just about to enter her own machine, stepped back upon the sidewalk and waited. She felt a little twinge of impatience, for she was on her way to the Horse Show and Ronald.
"Is the doctor in—good! He can wait—where are you off to, Beryl, huh? Looking perfectly lovely too. I often wonder what those old back-veld relations of mine would say if they ever saw a girl like you. Their women are just trek-oxen—mustn't say 'cows,' huh? Are you in a great hurry?"
"Not a great hurry," she smiled, "but I think father is expecting you."
"I know. But he'll not be worried if I'm late. Drive me somewhere. I want to talk."
She jumped at the opportunity of placing a time-limit on the conversation.
"Drive to Regents Park, round the inner circle and back to the house," she ordered, and Mr. Steppe handed her into the car.
"I want to have a little chat about your father," he said, greatly to her surprise. He had never before spoken more than two consecutive sentences in reference to Dr. Merville.
"What I tell you, Beryl, is in confidence," he said. "I'm not sure whether I ought to tell you at all, but you're a sensible girl, huh? No nonsense. That is how a woman should be. The doctor has lost a lot of money—you know that?"
"I didn't know," she answered in alarm, "but I thought father confined his investments to your companies?"