"I say, you are awfully good. I should love to stay a bit. This is one of the loveliest corners in the world at the loveliest time of the year. Surrey in May! What can be more attractive!"
"I'll have your room prepared at once, and, by the way, I'll send a man to London for your luggage."
"That is good of you, Faversham. I may as well confess it now. I did bring a suit-case with me in the hope that you could put me up for the night, but of course——"
"You might have known that I'd want you for a long time," Dick interrupted.
A servant entered, and Dick gave his instructions. "Now tell me," he went on; "what did you do on leaving the island? I know practically nothing about anything. I was very ill, and got no better till the boat landed at Plymouth."
Romanoff hesitated for a few seconds, then he replied:
"Oh, I caught a boat bound for Australia."
"Australia, eh?"
"Yes. Our signals were seen by two vessels, one returning to England, and the other going to Australia, which, as luck would have it, stopped at Bombay for a few hours. So I took that."
"And you didn't stay long in the Antipodes?"