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mously to charities? Ah, I thought I was right! You can’t deny my penetration, though you would like to.”

“Not more unlike than the crayon sketches you used to make of the passengers on board ship. But here we are at home now. Where are you staying?”

“At the hotel just now. The Austins asked me to stay with them, but I feared the pace would be rather rapid for an invalid, even one so robust as I am. I mean to get a couple of rooms in some farmhouse near, if I find the place suits me, and Jenkins, my man, approves of it. It would be a good centre for excursions, and I could see something of the country without much bother. I can’t stand being a Cook’s tourist.”

“I think you will like it. It is a nice dreamy little place, where you can eat as much lotus as you like without anyone objecting. There is no Society with a capital S, but there are plenty of nice friendly people about, and the scenery is lovely all round.”

“There are no lions in the path, then? You can solemnly assure me that there are no ruins, nor picture galleries, nor historical museums within twenty miles?”

“None whatever.”