He spent an arduous morning at consulates and police bureaux. Things were more difficult than he had thought, and the officials received him either with marked coldness or with incomprehensible winks and innuendo.
Things had been easier six months ago, they said, but now, with the League of Nations ‑ And they shrugged their shoulders despairingly. Perhaps it might be arranged once more, but Madame Beste‑Chetwynde must really understand that there were forms that must be respected. Eventually the young ladies were signed on as stewardesses.
'And if they should not go farther with me than Rio, said the captain, 'well, I have a sufficient staff already. You say there are posts waiting for them there? No doubt their employers will be able to arrange things there with the authorities.
But it cost Paul several thousand francs to complete the arrangements. 'What an absurd thing the League of Nations seems to be! said Paul. 'They seem to make it harder to get about instead of easier. And this, to his surprise, the officials took to be a capital joke.
Paul saw the young ladies to their ship, and all three kissed him good‑bye. As he walked back along the quay he met Potts.
'Just arrived by the morning train, he said. Paul felt strongly inclined to tell him his opinion of the League of Nations, but remembering Potts' prolixity in argument and the urgency of his own departure, he decided to leave his criticisms for another time. He stopped long enough in Marseilles to cable to Margot, 'Everything arranged satisfactorily. Returning this afternoon. All my love, and then left for Paris by air, feeling that at last he had done something to help.
* * *
At ten o'clock on his wedding morning Paul returned to the Ritz. It was raining hard, and he felt tired, unshaven and generally woebegone. A number of newspaper reporters were waiting for him outside his suite, but he told them that he could see no one. Inside he found Peter Beste‑Chetwynde, incredibly smart in his first morning‑coat.
'They've let me come up from Llanabba for the day, he said. 'To tell you the truth, I'm rather pleased with myself in these clothes. I bought you a buttonhole in case you'd forgotten. I say, Paul, you're looking tired.
'I am, rather. Turn on the bath for me like an angel.