"Until the next ship sails for England."
"Good—it will be a pleasure to have him."
"I did not mean to ask for an invitation for——"
"Tut! tut! we shall be delighted. A visiting Englishman is a boon—like yourself."
Parkington turned back to the house. Colonel Sharpe watched him, until he disappeared through the doorway, then, he swung around toward Maynadier.
"Either the plot grows thicker, or else it is cleared altogether. Either there are two Sir Edward Parkingtons or else Brandon is an abettor of the impostor. Well, we will wait and see."
As they went slowly in, Constable overtook them. He had been down at the far end of the track, putting a green hunter over the jumps.
"Constable!" said Colonel Sharpe, "have you ever met Sir Charles Brandon, Parkington's friend?"
"Yes—I was at the Coffee-house with Parkington, the other night, when Brandon walked in. They were too astonished, for a moment, to speak. Then it was: 'Parkington, on my soul!' 'Brandon, by all that's holy!' It was a very pretty meeting—such genuine friendship."