The man left the room to do his errand and to report below that the person in "Number 13" was a showman with a lot of man-monkeys from the interior of Africa.
But Claudia turned to her husband in astonishment.
"Did I understand you to inquire about the train to Aberdeen?"
"Yes," was the short reply.
"But—I thought we were going to London—to Hurstmonceux House—"
"Belgravia? No, my dear, we are going to Scotland."
"But—why this change of plan? My father and myself certainly understood that I was to be taken to London and introduced to your family and afterwards presented to her majesty."
"My dear, the London season is over ages ago. Nobody that is anybody will be found in town until February. The court is at Balmoral, and the world is in Scotland. We go to Castle Cragg."
"But why could you not have told me that before?"
"My dear, I like to be agreeable. And people who are always setting others right are not so."