The Knave of Diamonds | Page 8

he
appears."
"My dear Lady Carfax, you have the patience of a saint. I am afraid
Phil does not find me so long-suffering." Mrs. Damer bustled back into
the hall. "Are you there, Nap? Do see if you can find Sir Giles. Poor
Lady Carfax is half-dead with cold and fit to drop with fatigue. Go and
tell him so."
"Please do nothing of the sort," said Lady Carfax behind her. "No doubt
he will come when he is ready."
Nap Errol looked from one to the other with swift comprehension in his
glance. "Let me put you into your carriage first, Mrs. Damer," he said,
offering his arm. "Your husband is busy for the moment--some trifling
matter. He begs you will not wait for him. I will drive him back in my
motor. I have to pass your way, you know."
Mrs. Damer shook hands hurriedly with Lady Carfax and went with
him. There was something imperative about Nap just then. They passed

out together on to the baize-covered pavement, and Anne Carfax
breathed a faint sigh of relief.
A few seconds later the Damer carriage was clattering down the street,
and Nap Errol was once more by her side.
"Look here," he said. "Let me take you home in my motor first. No one
will know."
She looked at him, her lips quivering a little as though they still tried to
smile. "Thank you very much," she said. "But--I think not."
"No one will ever know," he reiterated. "I will just set you down at
your own door and go away. Come, Lady Carfax!" His dark eyes gazed
straight into her own, determined, dominating. The high cheek-bones
and long, lean jaw looked as though fashioned in iron.
"Come!" he said again.
She made a slight forward movement as if to yield, and then drew back
again. "Really, I had better wait and go with my husband," she said.
"You had better not!" he said with emphasis. "I have just seen him. He
is in the smoke-room. I won't tell you what he is like. You probably
know. But if you are a wise woman you will leave him for Damer to
look after, and come with me."
That decided her. She threw the hood of her cloak over her head and
turned in silence to the door.
Errol paused to pull on an overcoat and then followed her on to the
steps. A large covered motor had just glided up. He handed her into it.
"By Jove, you are cold!" he said.
She made no rejoinder.
He stepped in beside her, after a word with the chauffeur, and shut the
door.

Almost instantly they were in motion, and in another moment were
shooting forward swiftly down the long, ill-lighted street.
Anne Carfax sank back in her corner and lay motionless. The glare of
the little electric lamp upon her face showed it white and tired. Her
eyes were closed.
The man beside her sat bolt upright, his eyes fixed unblinkingly upon
the window in front, his jaw set grimly. He held the gloves he had worn
all the evening between his hands, and his fingers worked at them
unceasingly. He was rending the soft kid to ribbons.
They left the desolate street behind and came into total darkness.
Suddenly, but very quietly, Anne spoke. "This is very kind of you, Mr.
Errol."
He turned towards her. She had opened her eyes to address him, but the
lids drooped heavily.
"The kindness is on your side, Lady Carfax," he said deliberately. "If
you manage to inspire it in others, the virtue is still your own."
She smiled and closed her eyes again. It was evident that she did not
desire to talk.
He looked away from her, glanced at his torn gloves, and tossed them
impatiently from him.
For ten minutes neither spoke. The car ran smoothly on through the
night like an inspired chariot of the gods. There was no sound of
wheels. They seemed to be borne on wings.
For ten minutes the man sat staring stonily before him, rigid as a statue,
while the woman lay passive by his side.
But at the end of that ten minutes the speed began to slacken. They
came softly to earth and stopped.

Errol opened the door and alighted. "Have you a key?" he said, as he
gave her his hand.
She stood above him, looking downwards half-dreamily as one
emerging from a deep slumber.
"Do you know," she said, beginning to smile, "I thought that you were
the Knave of Diamonds?"
"You've been asleep," he said rather curtly.
She gave a slight shudder as the night air brought her back, and in a
moment, like the soft dropping of a veil, her reserve descended upon
her.
"I am afraid I have,"