The man bowed low, then he raised his head and, to Geoffrey's vast surprise, gravely and solemnly winked at him.
"Never mind," he said. "How's this for a disguise, Master Geoffrey?"
It was Tchigorsky himself.
CHAPTER XXIV MARION'S DOUBLE
Geoffrey was lying perdu among the gorse on the cliff uplands. He had a field glass and a rook rifle by his side, for he was waiting for a rabbit. Also he had stolen out here to think over the many matters that puzzled him.
He was slightly disturbed and, on the whole, not altogether well pleased. Why had his uncle and the mysterious Tchigorsky taken him so far into their confidence and then failed him at the critical moment? He was prepared to take his share of the danger; indeed he had already done so and had proved his steel.
And was not Marion equally mysterious? True, he might have got more out of her, but had refrained from motives of delicacy. Perhaps, after all, his elders knew best. A word slipped, a suspicious glance, might spoil everything.
Then Geoffrey looked up suddenly. Some two hundred yards away he saw a rabbit lopping along in his direction. At the same instant two figures came along the cliff. They were ladies and the sight of them astonished Geoffrey, for it was not usual to see anything more modern than a shepherd or a dog at this wild spot.