Having made quite clear his extreme reluctance to accompany Hugh, he got happily into the car beside him; wished he could drive as well as the boy could; said that Hugh took his corners too fast; was sorry for an acquaintance whom they passed on the road, whose son was a very poor specimen compared with Hugh, and never wanted to take his father anywhere.
When Hugh drew up outside the King's Head behind Vicky's sports-car, and Sir William saw Vicky sitting pensively at the wheel, and looking very young and fragile in a black hat and frock, he exclaimed: "Surely it's not necessary for that child to be present!"
"She thinks it is," responded Hugh, opening the door for him to get out. "She's a suspected party."
"Preposterous!" said Sir William. "As though a girl of her age could have had anything to do with it!"
"I wouldn't put it beyond her," said Hugh. "Hallo, Vicky! Congratulations on the ensemble!"
"Hush, I'm feeling frightfully holy, because black has that effect on me, I find. Oh, how do you do, Sir William! I'm glad you've come, because so far the most scruffylooking people have turned up, and I thought it was going to be utterly drab."
"My dear child, you ought not to be here," said Sir William, shaking hands with her. "There's no need at all: I can't think what that boy of mine wass about to let you come."
"You don't think he could stop me, do you?" asked Vicky, quite shocked. "Besides, I've rather fallen for the Inspector from Scotland Yard, on account of his reminding me awfully of a robin that got so tame it used to hop into the dining-room. Oh, Hugh, all the Whites have turned up, and Janet was terribly sweet to me, and said she'd stay with me, only I thought not, because she's wearing the kind of hat that makes you feel perhaps after all you're frittering your life away, and ought to be telling people how to look after their babies, or drilling Girl Guides, or something just as dispiriting. And the Prince hasn't turned up, which seems to me pretty callous, really."
Sir William rather blinked at these confidences, but though he did not approve of the younger generation, he was easily won over by a pretty face. Vicky made him feel fatherly, so he smiled tolerantly at the extravagances of her speech, and took her into the King's Head, telling her that he was glad she did not think he was scruffylooking.
Quite a number of people had come to attend the Inquest. Robert Steel was present, Dr Hinchcliffe, the three Whites, Mr. Jones, and, as Vicky immediately pointed out to Hugh, Gladys Baker, who was sitting beside her mother at the back of the room. In addition to these interested persons there was a large sprinkling of strangers, who appeared to have come in the hope of hearing startling revelations.