A five miles' drive took him to the entrance to the Castle, which stood on the side of a hill several hundred feet above sea-level. He drove in at the great gates, which were opened by the lodge-keeper as the carriage was heard approaching. The drive was made through a beautiful avenue of beech trees, and led steeply uphill. The house stood on a plateau, from which was a glorious view of the valley below and the wooded hills beyond. The door was opened by a footman, and Kenneth entered a magnificent marble hall, filled with palms and other hothouse plants, tastefully grouped round the lovely statuary, which was of pure white marble like the portico in which it stood. A flight of marble steps led him to another door, where he was met by the butler and, conducted to the library.
Lady Earlswood welcomed him kindly, and Lady Violet, who was pouring out tea at a small table in the window, told him how delighted Evelyn was that he could come to see them. He had been obliged to make a distant call that afternoon, but would be home in a short time. Then the conversation turned on the Riviera and the happy month they had spent together there the year before, and Lady Violet went for her photo album, that she might show him the prints of the negatives which he had helped her to take. Captain Berington came in before they had looked through them all, and they talked together of the many places which the photos recalled, the different pleasant excursions during which they had been taken, and the various amusing incidents which had occurred whilst they were there. Kenneth himself appeared in several of them, and as he looked at these, he wished that he could feel once more the gay light-heartedness which he had then enjoyed.
Then it was time to dress for dinner, and he went to his room feeling as if he were in a dream, or rather, as if this were reality, and the past three weeks had been a distressing dream from which he had awaked.
He went down to the drawing-room, and found Lady Violet there before him. She looked very lovely in her pale-blue evening dress, and the magnificent diamond necklace which had been her mother's present to her when she came of age.
"I'm awfully glad you were able to come," she said in a low voice.
"Thank you, Lady Violet; I am glad too; I wanted to say good-bye to you all."
"Why good-bye?"
"May I tell you in the morning some time, if you and Lady Earlswood could spare me half an hour? I had rather not talk about it to-night, if you don't mind. I think I should like to tell you just before I go."
"But you're not going to-morrow; you must stay longer than that."
"Impossible, Lady Violet! My leave has been extended more than once, and I'm due in Aldershot to-morrow."