"I have had nothing from him for some time; and, as for breaking that sort of habit, it isn't so easy. What made you ask that?"
"Merely the fact," answered Cherriton, cunningly, "that I think I can give you what you want."
John had already detected that the other had a strong reason for getting him into the cottage, and, though at first he had made up his mind to accept no invitation, he now saw that he was liable to fall into a trap. For if he declined to come to the cottage for the tablets, which were a mania with Treves, he would without doubt deepen Cherriton's suspicions. Therefore, acting the part of Treves, he broke into a laugh.
"Well, if you put it like that," he said, "I suppose I must come."
Five minutes later he followed Cherriton through a gate in a low stone wall, crossed the patch of ground before the cottage, and entered the single-storied building. The house was silent and deserted. John discovered that the place, formerly two workmen's cottages, had been knocked into one, and furnished for the purpose of letting.
The room in which John stood was low, and a gate-legged table occupied the middle of the apartment. There was an old-fashioned fireplace, three or four chintz-covered chairs, and chintz curtains. From the window John could obtain a distant view of a grey sea and a leaden sky.
"It's not over cheerful in here, is it?" said Cherriton. "I think we had better have a fire." He put a match to the fire, then took whisky and glasses from the cupboard. "One peg won't hurt you," he remarked, pouring out a drink for John. "While you are drinking, I'll look for the tablets."
He stayed in the room for some minutes after that. John noticed that he poured himself a stiff dose of whisky, and drank it down with only a moderate addition of water. He gave John the impression of a man who is strung up to a high pitch of tension. He was restless and walked the floor, explaining to John that he intended to spend the rest of the summer and the autumn there.
"I have a good deal of writing to do," he said, "and Dr. Voules wants me to be near him. It's not a bad little place this, is it?"
"Not at all," said John.