“I’m darned if I understand it,” he muttered “are you sure you are not playing a joke on me, my lord, I could have sworn …”
“For whom did you take me, then?”
“Why, Lord Reckavile, you’re ’is living image.”
Halley smiled. “I am sure you can accommodate me, even though I am not Lord Reckavile.”
“Why yes, sir, if you don’t mind roughing it a bit; we are plain folk.”
So the bargain was struck, but Halley noticed that every time the landlord came in he fixed his eyes on him in the same bewildered fashion.
When he had set the table for a simple lunch in the old timbered room Halley asked casually:
“Who is this Lord Reckavile for whom you took me? I should like to see him.”
“You must be a stranger in these parts; why, ’is Lordship ’as a place near ’ere, Reckavile Castle.”
“And is he here now?” Halley asked eagerly.