“I propose we break our journey at San Sebastian,” said Mr. Lloyd. “I want to see the place, and the Casino which is making such a bid against the counter-attraction of Monte Carlo. What do you say?”
“I’m quite agreeable,” I replied. “A couple of days’ delay makes no difference to me. As long as I am in Madrid on the sixteenth it will be all right. I have to attend a directors’ meeting on behalf of Mr. Rayne on that day.”
“Good! uncle,” cried the girl. “Then we’ll break our journey at San Sebastian, eh?”
And so it was arranged.
Two days later we stepped from the dusty sleeping-car in which we had traveled from Paris, and soon found ourselves driving around a wide bay with calm sapphire sea and golden sands—the far-famed La Concha.
We remained for two days at that luxurious hotel the Continental, on the Paseo, and visited all the sights, including the Casino, where we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Old Mr. Lloyd was an amusing companion, as I well knew, a man who seemed never tired notwithstanding his advanced age, while his niece was a particularly jolly girl who enjoyed every moment of her life.
Then we proceeded by the night express to Madrid.
Mr. Lloyd insisted that I should stay with them at the Ritz, but, compelled to obey Rayne’s instructions, I was forced to excuse myself on the plea that two of Rayne’s co-directors were to stay at the Hôtel de la Paix, and Rayne had wished me to stay with them for certain business reasons.
With this explanation the old gentleman was satisfied, so when at last we arrived in the Spanish capital I saw them safely to the Ritz, then went on alone to the Puerta del Sol.
That night we dined together, and afterwards we went to the opera at the Teatro Real. Next day we met again, and on several days that followed. I took them to see the sights of the capital, the sights which everyone visits, the Armeria, the Academy, the Naval Museum, the street life of the Plaza Mayor and the Calle de Toledo, the afternoon promenades in the Retiro Park and the Paseo de Fernan Nuñez.