whole principle of the thing. He agreed to contribute the first article in the series himself.'
Mrs. Anstruther murmured, 'They use guinea pigs, I believe. So cruel — though, of course, not so bad as dogs, or even cats.'
'Fellows who use dogs ought to be shot,' said Major Horton hoarsely.
'I really believe, Horton,' said Mr. Abbot, 'that you value canine life above human life.'
'Every time!' said the Major. 'Dogs can't turn round on you like human beings can. Never get a nasty word from a dog.'
'Only a nasty tooth stuck into your leg,' said Mr. Abbot. 'What about that, eh, Horton?'
'Dogs are a good judge of character,' said Major Horton.
'One of your brutes nearly pinned me by the leg last week. What do you say to that, Horton?'
'Same as I said just now!'
Bridget interposed tactfully, 'What about some more tennis?'
A couple more sets were played. Then, as Rose Humbleby said good-bye, Luke appeared beside her. 'I'll see you home,' he said. 'And carry the tennis racket. You haven't got a car, have you?'
'No, but it's no distance.'
'I'd like a walk.' He said no more, merely taking her racket and shoes from her. They walked down the drive without speaking. Then Rose mentioned one or two trivial matters. Luke answered rather shortly, but the girl did not seem to notice.
As they turned into the gate of her house, Luke's face cleared. 'I'm feeling better now,' he said.
'Were you feeling badly before?'
'Nice of you to pretend you didn't notice it. You've exorcised the brute's sulky temper, though. Funny, I feel as though I'd come out of a dark cloud into the sun.'
'So you have. There was a cloud over the sun when we left the Manor, and now it's passed over.'
'So it has, literally as well as figuratively. Well, well, the world's a good place, after all.'
'Of course it is.'
'Miss Humbleby, may I be impertinent?'
'I'm sure you couldn't be.'
'Oh, don't be too sure of that. I wanted to say that I think Doctor Thomas is a very lucky man.' Rose blushed and smiled. 'So it is true. You and he are engaged?'
Rose nodded. 'Only, just now we're not announcing it officially. You see, Daddy was against it, and it seems — well, unkind to — to blazon it abroad the moment he's dead.'
'Your father disapproved?'
Rose bent her head slowly and reluctantly.
'Yes, I'm afraid what it really amounted to was that Daddy didn't — well, didn't really like Geoffrey.'
'They were antagonistic to each other?'
'It seemed like that sometimes. Of course, Daddy was rather a prejudiced old dear.'
'And I suppose he was very fond of you and didn't like the thought of losing you?'
Rose assented, but still with a shade of reservation in her manner.
'It went deeper than that?' asked Luke. 'He definitely didn't want Thomas as a husband for you?'
'No. You see. Daddy and Geoffrey are so very unlike and in some ways they clashed. Geoffrey was really very patient and good about it, but knowing Daddy didn't like him made him even more reserved and shy in his manner, so that Daddy really never got to know him any better.'
'Prejudices are very hard to combat,' said Luke.
'It was so completely unreasonable!'
'Your father didn't advance any reasons?'
'Oh, no. He couldn't! Naturally, I mean, there wasn't anything he could say against Geoffrey except that he didn't like him.'
'I do not love thee, Doctor Fell;
'The reason why I cannot tell.'
'Exactly.'
'No tangible thing to get hold of? I mean, your Geoffrey doesn't drink or back horses?'
'Oh, no. I don't believe Geoffrey even knows what won the Derby .'
'That's funny,' said Luke. 'You know, I could swear I saw your Doctor Thomas at Epsom on Derby Day.'
For a moment he was anxious lest he might already have mentioned that he only arrived in England on that day. But Rose responded at once, quite unsuspiciously.
'You thought you saw Geoffrey at the Derby ? Oh, no. He couldn't get away, for one thing. He was over at Ashewold nearly all that day at a difficult confinement case.'
'What a memory you've got!'
Rose laughed. 'I remember that because he told me they called the baby Jujube as a nickname!' Luke nodded abstractedly.
'Anyway,' said Rose, 'Geoffrey never goes to race meetings. He'd be bored to death.'
She added, in a different tone, 'Won't you come in? I think Mother would like to see you.'
'If you're sure of that?'
Rose led the way into a room where twilight hung rather sadly. A woman was sitting in an armchair in a curiously huddled-up position. 'Mother, this is Mr. Fitzwilliam.'
Mrs. Humbleby gave a start and shook hands. Rose went quietly out of the room.
'I'm glad to see you, Mr. Fitzwilliam. Some friends of yours knew my husband many years ago, so Rose tells me.'
'Yes, Mrs. Humbleby.' He rather hated repeating the lie to the widowed woman, but there was no way out of it.
Mrs. Humbleby said, 'I wish you could have met him. He was a fine man and a great doctor. He cured many people who had been given up as hopeless, just by the strength of his personality.'
Luke said gently, 'I've heard a lot about him since I've been here. I know how much people thought of him.'
He could not see Mrs. Humbleby's face very distinctly. Her voice was rather monotonous, but its very lack of feeling seemed to emphasize the fact that actually feeling was in her, strenuously held back. She said, rather unexpectedly, 'The world is a very wicked place, Mr. Fitzwilliam. Do you know that?'
Luke was a little surprised. 'Yes, perhaps that may be.'
She insisted, 'No, but you do know it? It's important, that. There's a lot of wickedness about. One must be prepared — to fight it! John was. He knew. He was on the side of the right!'
Luke said gently, 'I sure he was.'
'He knew the wickedness there was in this place,' said Mrs. Humbleby.
'He knew –' She burst suddenly into tears.
Luke murmured, 'I'm so sorry,' and stopped.
She controlled herself as suddenly as she had lost control. 'You must forgive me,' she said. She held out her hand and he took it. 'Do come and see us while you are here,' she said. 'It would be so good for Rose. She likes you so much.'
'I like her. I think your daughter is the nicest girl I've met for a long time, Mrs. Humbleby.'
'She's very good to me.'
'Doctor Thomas is a very lucky man.'
'Yes.' Mrs. Humbleby dropped his hand. Her voice had gone flat again. 'I don't know. It's all so difficult.'
Luke left her standing in the half gloom, her fingers nervously twisting and untwisting themselves. As he walked home, his mind went over various aspects of the conversation.
Doctor Thomas had been absent from Wychwood for a good part of Derby Day. He had been absent in a car. Wychwood was thirty-five miles from London . Supposedly he had been attending a confinement case. Was there more than his word? The point, he supposed, could be verified. His mind went on to Mrs. Humbleby. What had she meant by her insistence on that phrase: 'There's a lot of wickedness about.' Was she just nervous and overwrought
