The Great Secret | Page 9

seem inclined to forget that behind the shadow all the time
there is the substance. I happen to know that there is a great deal of
tension just now at the Foreign Office!"
"Things seem pretty much as they were six months ago," I remarked.
"There is no definite cause for alarm, is there?"
"No definite cause, perhaps, that we know of," my cousin answered;
"but there is no denying the fact that an extraordinary amount of
apprehension exists in the best informed circles. As Lord Kestelen said
to me yesterday, one seems to feel the thunder in the air."
I was thoughtful for a moment. Perhaps, after all, I was inclined to envy
my cousin. My own life was a simple and wholesome one enough, but
it was far removed indeed from the world of great happenings. Just then,
I felt the first premonitions of dissatisfaction.
"I believe I'm sorry after all, that I didn't go in for a career of some
sort," I remarked.
My cousin looked gratified. He accepted my regret as a tribute to his
own larger place in the world.
"In some respects," he admitted, "it is regrettable. Yet you must
remember that you are practically the head of the family. I have the title,
but you have the estates and the money. You should find plenty to do!"

I nodded.
"Naturally! That isn't exactly what I meant, though. Here we are, and
by Jove, I'm late!"
My cousin cared for cricket no more than for any other sports, but
because he represented Medchestershire, he made a point of coming to
see his County play. He took up a prominent position in the pavilion
enclosure, and requested me to inform the local reporters, who had
come up from Medchester, of his presence. I changed into my flannels
quickly, and was just in time to go out into the field with the rest of the
team.
The morning's cricket was not particularly exciting, and I had hard
work to keep my thoughts fixed upon the game. Our bowling was
knocked about rather severely, but wickets fell with reasonable
frequency. It was just before luncheon time that the most surprising
event of the day happened to me. The captain of the M.C.C., who had
just made his fifty, drove a full pitch hard towards the boundary on the
edge of which I was fielding. By fast sprinting, and a lot of luck, I
brought off the catch, and, amidst the applause from the pavilion within
a few feet of me, I heard my cousin's somewhat patronizing
congratulations:--
"Fine catch, Jim! Very fine catch indeed!"
I glanced round, and stood for a moment upon the cinder-path as
though turned to stone. My cousin, who had changed his seat, was
smiling kindly upon me a few yards away, and by his side, talking to
him, was a young lady with golden-brown hair, a French maid dressed
in black, and a Japanese spaniel. Her eyes met mine without any
shadow of recognition. She looked upon me from her raised seat, as
though I were a performer in some comedy being played for her
amusement, in which she found it hard, however, to take any real
interest. I went back to my place in the field, without any clear idea of
whether I was upon my head or my heels, and my fielding for the rest
of the time was purely mechanical.

In about half an hour the luncheon bell rang. I made straight for my
cousin's seat, and, to my intense relief, saw that neither of them had as
yet quitted their places. Gilbert seemed somewhat surprised to see me!
"Well," he remarked, "you haven't done so badly after all. Five wickets
for 120 isn't it? You ought to get them out by four o'clock."
He hesitated. I glanced towards his companion, and he had no
alternative.
"Miss Van Hoyt," he said, "will you allow me to introduce my cousin,
Mr. Hardross Courage?"
She bowed a little absently.
"Are you interested in cricket, Miss Van Hoyt?" I asked inanely.
"Not in the least," she answered. "I have a list somewhere--in my purse,
I think--of English institutions which must be studied before one can
understand your country-people. Cricket, I believe, is second on the list.
Your cousin was kind enough to tell me about this match, and how to
get here."
"We are staying at the same hotel, I think," I remarked.
"Very likely," she answered, "I am only in London for a short time. Is
the cricket over for the day now?"
I hastened to explain the luncheon arrangements. She rose at once.
"Then we will go," she said, turning to her maid and addressing her in
French. "Janette, we depart!"
The maid rose with suspicious alacrity. The spaniel yawned and looked