“Oh! I am so sorry, I did not mean that, of course I was not referring to you.”
“But why not? You know as little about me as you did about Fletcher.”
She was confused, and took refuge in his own words.
“But then you said friendship was an instinctive thing. I never took to Mr. Fletcher, though I knew nothing against him, and he was a stranger.”
The lunch at the Sefton’s bungalow was cheerful, in spite of the cloud hanging over the affairs of all three. Jack was a changed being now that he had taken his resolve, and listened with interest to the tales of foreign travel with which Halley regaled them, for Halley was in a mood they had never seen before. His usual gravity was gone, and they realised what a wonderful talker he could be when he liked, and in the days which followed they looked back on this meal with especial pleasure. The men had just settled to smoke, when there came a hasty knock at the door. Southgate was standing outside panting, for he had walked fast, and his face was red, but there was an anxious look in his eyes.
“Come away at once, Mr. Halley,” he said urgently. “I have something to tell you.”
With apologies Halley went outside.
“I am sorry,” he said when he returned to the others “I must go with Southgate, and I am afraid I shall have to go to London to-morrow. I will get back as soon as I can.”
Chapter XI.
The Meaning of “The Red Cote”
The following Saturday Sefton was waiting in his bungalow, and Ena was with him, rather nervous, but glad that the shadow was to be lifted at last. Jack had written to Andrews to tell him that he was going to make an explanation with regard to The Red Cote, and asked him to be present. Fletcher he had deliberately ignored, though he felt certain that he would turn up. Halley had not returned from London, and there had been no news of him.