The Colonel went to the washstand to cleanse his hands.
“Pity to break it,” he said. “But help yourself, if you’ve a mind to.”
When he had washed he got back into bed, and Hayhurst sat on a chair facing him, with a glass of whisky in his hand.
“We’ll have to go back to the beginning,” he said, “if you want to follow the yarn—that is, to the time when Lawless left Cape Town before poor Simmonds’ murder. You may remember he left Cape Town with a companion.”
“I do,” Colonel Grey answered drily. “I have reason to remember.”
“So have I,” Hayhurst rejoined.
“Indeed!”
“You see, I was with him,” he explained, taking pleasure in the Colonel’s open amazement. “We were in Stellenbosch together.”
“You!—With that she—”
“Devil,” prompted the young man cheerfully. “Yes! She wasn’t half a bad sort either. You mustn’t call her names. I’ve a sneaking affection for her.”