The gloomy-looking waiter, who had served dinner the night before, informed John that the only way to arrive at Brooke was by hired pony-trap or by bicycle. Choosing the latter method, John, early in the morning, hired a bicycle, visited the hotel, and said good-bye to Elaine.
"You'll come back to me this evening, Bernard?" whispered she as she kissed him good-bye.
"This evening," said John. "I had no right to let her kiss me," he continued inwardly, "but, after all, it's part of the deception, part of the character I am obliged to play." Nevertheless, he felt uneasy as he rode the winding and hilly path to Brooke. The night before he had played his part valiantly and well, but he felt that in regard to Elaine tremendous difficulties were ahead.
It was eleven o'clock when John reached the road which led to the empty, forlorn line of shore at Brooke. He could see the sea ahead of him, a grand expanse of blue ocean. He passed quaint Brooke church on his left hand, and suddenly slowed up near a large solid-looking dwelling, overgrown with creepers. Here was Rollo Meads, with a strip of garden in front. As John neared the dwelling he noticed a gardener at work. Something in the quiet and homely exterior of the house made him for a moment think he had made a mistake, but as his hand fell upon the gate the gardener lifted his face, and John recognised the pallid countenance and close-set eyes of Conrad, the manservant who had first admitted him to Manwitz's house in St. George's Square.
Conrad informed him that Dr. Voules was in and was awaiting him.
"Now," thought John, as he followed Conrad to the front door, "matters may begin to move again." Dacent Smith had for some time been groping towards the identity of Dr. Voules, and John realised that in being permitted to undertake the work he was now upon he was being trusted and favoured by his Chief. He resolved, in his interview with the doctor, to exercise the most extreme caution, and to play the part of Bernard Treves with the closest simulation.
There was silence as John stepped into the hall of Rollo Meads. The servant preceded him along the passage, knocked on a door, then entered, and vanished, leaving John alone. Conrad emerged a minute later, and summoned John towards him.
"Will you please go in, sir."
A moment later John found himself in a good-sized morning-room, with two windows overlooking a lawn and a garden. The room was heavily furnished with a long oak table in the middle, and half a dozen massive dining-room chairs surrounding it. At the head of the table Doctor "Voules" was seated. He wore a markedly English-looking tweed suit, but his thick neck, his circular head, and heavy jaws showed him to be not quite the amiable retired doctor he pretended to be. Seated on Voules's right hand were two men, deeply sun-tanned. One of the men wore a blond beard, and looked frankly and honestly at John. The other was a fair-haired man, with a supercilious-looking expression. John put both down at once as naval officers. Standing at the fire-place, in uniform, was Captain Cherriton. The air of the room was heavily impregnated with the smell of cigar smoke. Cherriton was smoking a cigarette, but Doctor Voules held in his powerful mouth a long, black cigar. He flashed a keen scrutiny upon John as the young man stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.
"You are Mr. Treves, eh?"