The Ashiel Mystery | Page 7

hotel for rooms. Are you going
to take her, Arthur?" she added, turning to her husband.
"I would, like a shot," he replied, "but I can't possibly get away next
week. I've got a lot of work on hand just now. I suppose, my dear," he
suggested doubtfully, "that you wouldn't be able to run over with her?"
Lady Byrne declared that it was impossible for her to do so: she had
engagements, she said, for every day of the following week, which it
was out of the question to break. Had Sir Arthur forgotten that they
themselves were having large dinner-parties on Tuesday and Friday?
What she would do without Juliet to help her in preparing for them, she
did not know, but at least it was obvious that some one must be there to
receive his guests. No, Juliet would have to go alone. She was really
old enough to be trusted by herself for three days, and there was no
need, that she could see, for her to be away longer.

"She can go on Monday, see the lawyers on Tuesday, and come back
on Wednesday," said Lady Byrne. "The helplessness of young girls is
the one thing I disapprove of in your European system of education. It
is much better that they should learn to manage their own affairs; and
Juliet is not such a ninny as you seem to think."
"I shall be perfectly all right by myself," Juliet protested.
Sir Arthur did not like it.
"Supposing she is detained in London," he said.
"What should detain her," demanded his wife, "unless it is the
discovery of her parents? And, if she finds them, I presume they will be
capable of looking after her. In any case, she can write, or cable to us
when she has seen the solicitors, and it is no use providing for
contingencies that will probably never arise."
So at last it was decided. A letter was written and dispatched to Messrs.
Findlay & Ince, saying that Miss Byrne would have pleasure in calling
upon them at twelve o'clock on the following Tuesday; and Juliet
busied herself in preparations for her journey.
On Monday morning she left Ostend, in the company of her maid.
It was a glorious August day. On shore the heat was intense, and it was
a relief to get out of the stifling carriages of the crowded boat train, and
to breathe the gentle air from the sea that met them as they crossed the
gangway on to the steamer. Juliet enjoyed every moment of the journey;
and would have been sorry when the crossing was over if she had not
been so eager to set foot upon her native soil.
She leant upon the rail in the bows of the ship, watching the white cliffs
grow taller and more distinct, and felt that now indeed she understood
the emotions with which the heart of the exile is said to swell at the
sight of his own land. She wondered if the sight of their country moved
other passengers on the boat as she herself was moved, and made timid
advances to a lady who was standing near her, in her need of some

companion with whom to share her feeling.
"Have you been away from England a long time," she asked her.
"I have been abroad during a considerable period," replied the person
she addressed, a stern-looking Scotchwoman who did not appear
anxious to enter into conversation.
From her severe demeanour Juliet imagined she might be a governess
going for a holiday.
"You must be glad to be going home," she ventured.
"It's a far cry north to my home," said the Scotchwoman, thawing
slightly. "I'm fearing I will not be seeing it this summer. I'll be stopping
in the south with some friends. The journey north is awful' expensive."
"I'm sorry you aren't going home," Juliet sympathized, "but it will be
nice to see the English faces at Dover, won't it? There may even be a
Scotchman among the porters, you know, by some chance."
"No fear," said her neighbour gloomily. "They'll be local men, I have
nae doubt. Though whether they are English or Scots," she added, "I'll
have to give them saxpence instead of a fifty-centime bit; which is one
of the bonniest things you see on the Continent, to my way of
thinking."
Juliet could get no enthusiasm out of her; and, look which way she
might, she could not see any reflection on the faces of those around her
of the emotions which stirred in her own breast. It had been a rough
crossing, in spite of the cloudless sky and broiling sunshine, and most
of the passengers had been laid low by the rolling of the vessel. They
displayed anxiety enough