“Where are you staying?”
“At the Golden Cross.”
“Well, then, you must go and fetch your luggage here at once. It would be strange indeed if you were to be staying at any house but mine while you are in London.”
As he saw that the planter would not hear of a refusal, Will gladly accepted the invitation, and, taking a fly, drove to the hotel, paid his bill, and took his things away.
CHAPTER XVII
ON BOARD THE “JASON”
“I won’t ask you for your story till after dinner,” Mr. Palethorpe said. “To enjoy a yarn one needs to be comfortable, and I feel more at home in my arm-chair in the dining-room than I do in this room, with all its fal-lals. You see, I have taken the house furnished. When I settle down in a home of my own, I can assure you it will look very different from this. In fact I have one already building for me. It is at Dulwich, and will be as nearly as possible like my house in Jamaica. Of course there will be differences. I at first wished to have the same sort of veranda, but the architect pointed out that while in Jamaica one requires shade, here one wants light. So they are getting large sheets of glass specially made for putting in instead of wood above the windows. Then, of course, we want good fireplaces, whereas in Jamaica a fire is only necessary for a few [pg 322]days in the year. There are also other little differences, but on the whole it will remind me of the place I had for so many years.”
“The house will have one advantage over that in Jamaica, Mr. Palethorpe.”
“What is that?” he asked.