“Of course it is an unhappy coincidence, and I will go when I can do so decently—to-morrow morning. Meanwhile I shall be away all day fishing the West Branch, and shall return too late to dine at the club table.
“I wish you a happy sojourn here—”
This he reread and scratched out.
“I am glad you kept His Highness.”
This he also scratched out.
After a while he signed his name to the note, sealed it, and stepped into the hallway.
At the farther end of the passage the door of her room was ajar; a sunlit-scarlet curtain hung inside.
“Come here!” said Langham to the dog.
His Highness came with a single leap.
“Take it to … her,” said the man, under his breath. Then he turned sharply, picked up rod and creel, and descended the stairs.