“No good. A bit far-fetched, in any case. But why use Latin in one text and English for the rest; for the text-references are obviously to the English Bible and not to the Vulgate—Luke isn’t Latin. There might be something there, if one could only see it.”
He stared at the paper as though hoping that some key-word would flash up from the inscriptions.
“The fresh eye doesn’t seem to see much,” he confessed ruefully, after a time. “I make neither head nor tail of it. And yet I’m dead certain that the thing’s there, if one could only get a glimpse of it. What’s wanted is someone I could talk it over with—one often gets a flash that way.”
A recollection of Rollo’s words passed through his mind: “You may tell Miss Cressage what you think fit. We can trust her.”
Westenhanger hesitated.
“It’s straining the meaning a bit further than old Dangerfield meant, perhaps. But the principle’s the main thing. She wouldn’t let anything slip out. Besides, they’ve never taken me into their confidence. I’m not giving away anything they’ve told me. So why not?”
He folded up his paper, put it into his pocket, and left the room. It took him some time to discover Eileen, but at last he found her at the tennis-courts, watching Douglas and Cynthia playing a single.
On the departure of the three pariahs, the Friocksheim atmosphere had cleared, as the weather changes after the passing of thunder. Sudden relaxation of the long-drawn-out strain of suspicion produced a reaction among the remaining company; and the influence of Douglas Fairmile soon supplanted the morbid inquisitiveness of Freddie Stickney. Tacitly it was resolved to obliterate the whole incident from memory, and to make the house-party a success.
In this new medium Eileen Cressage had undergone an almost visible change. Relieved from the irritation of Freddie’s suspicions and freed from the annoyance of Morchard’s presence, she had recovered an enjoyment of life and high spirits which marked how much she had been repressed under the weight of mistrust. Westenhanger had been surprised to find in her almost a new character.
“Care to walk down to the sea?” he asked, as he came up to where she was sitting.