louder. “Don’t depend too much on any suit of armor, invisible or otherwise. Take care—take great care—Major Jones. After all, it wasn’t Disraeli or that damnable Lindsay who killed Mr. Campbell. Tonight may have been a wasted effort. I merely did what lay within my power.”
“But clever it was, sir. Begging your pardon.”
“Clever or not, you’re as exposed as Lear upon the heath,” he said, as we turned back into the world of well-lit streets. “The men you met will have grasped the general purpose of your visit—at least those who take an interest in things beyond the breeding of their hunters. To the degree it may protect you, I fear it may also hinder you. You’re known.”
I shook my head. “I have never been a fellow for sneaking about, sir. It is not decent nor Christian. I have found that, if a body displays himself, any trouble that interests him will soon come round to call. It is a method I have used before, for secrets love to come out into the open.”
The cab pulled up. “Well, let us both hope that you’ll see any trouble coming in sufficient time to protect yourself,” Mr.Adams told me. “Here’s your hotel. There were no rooms at the Grosvenor, with the International Exhibition filling the town. And, to be frank, the legation’s budget demands a certain discipline.”
Now, that is as I would have it, and I told him so. We must not be wasteful with our government’s resources.
He caught me as I stepped down. He did not need to touch me at all, but had the magic certain men wield and called back my attention simply by willing it.
“Major Jones,” he said quietly, as two women of more enthusiasm than virtue strolled past the cab, “I dearly hope you can retrieve Mr. Campbell’s watch.”
“I will do my best, sir,” I said, and meant it.
“Come see me Monday morning. Early. To tell me what you’ve found.”
“Yes, sir. Monday morning.”
I stepped back and the hack drove off with a snap.
The Empire Hotel appeared fine enough for my likes, although the neighborhood was livelier than I might have wished for my repose. The hotel sat on Baker Street, just along from MADAME TUSSAUD’S and next to the ECONOMIC FUNERAL COMPANY (LIMITED), whose shopfront promised “funerals in the best style, and with superior appointments, at one-half the usual cost.”
The hotel was clean, and that is all a Methodist demands. I do not like sheets that smell of a predecessor. My room was simple and small, yet I had me a table and chair for writing and pondering. Twas the modern aspect of the place impressed me most. Each floor had its own water-closet, with a pot of the sort that rinses itself to a purity.
Although my bags had been stowed in my room for hours, the porter insisted on showing me upstairs and demonstrating that splendid convenience at the end of the hall, which I allowed was a marvelous invention and a mighty step in the march of civilization. Of course, I had seen such before, and looked forward to the day when such a device might grace myown home, but such luxury in a hotel that appeared to cater to commercial men spoke well of British hygiene.
Cleanliness is a lovely thing, pleasing to God and man.
The porter seemed to have taken an odd liking to me, for he followed me back to my room after the demonstration. I shook his hand affably when he held it out, but he did not seem to want to go away. Perhaps he had a fondness for the Welsh. I began to unpack my effects and, at last, he put on a disgruntled look and stepped off with a bang of the door. He may have mistaken my weariness for rudeness. I am not at my best with help or servants, for I was not born high, though born most honorably.
I washed my face in the basin provided, then took me down the corridor to enjoy the splendor of that handsome sanitary appliance, which proved a salutary undertaking. Now, it is my habit to write to my Mary Myfanwy and our young John each and every night, and I had posted a baker’s
“But clever it was, sir. Begging your pardon.”
“Clever or not, you’re as exposed as Lear upon the heath,” he said, as we turned back into the world of well-lit streets. “The men you met will have grasped the general purpose of your visit—at least those who take an interest in things beyond the breeding of their hunters. To the degree it may protect you, I fear it may also hinder you. You’re known.”
I shook my head. “I have never been a fellow for sneaking about, sir. It is not decent nor Christian. I have found that, if a body displays himself, any trouble that interests him will soon come round to call. It is a method I have used before, for secrets love to come out into the open.”
The cab pulled up. “Well, let us both hope that you’ll see any trouble coming in sufficient time to protect yourself,” Mr.Adams told me. “Here’s your hotel. There were no rooms at the Grosvenor, with the International Exhibition filling the town. And, to be frank, the legation’s budget demands a certain discipline.”
Now, that is as I would have it, and I told him so. We must not be wasteful with our government’s resources.
He caught me as I stepped down. He did not need to touch me at all, but had the magic certain men wield and called back my attention simply by willing it.
“Major Jones,” he said quietly, as two women of more enthusiasm than virtue strolled past the cab, “I dearly hope you can retrieve Mr. Campbell’s watch.”
“I will do my best, sir,” I said, and meant it.
“Come see me Monday morning. Early. To tell me what you’ve found.”
“Yes, sir. Monday morning.”
I stepped back and the hack drove off with a snap.
The Empire Hotel appeared fine enough for my likes, although the neighborhood was livelier than I might have wished for my repose. The hotel sat on Baker Street, just along from MADAME TUSSAUD’S and next to the ECONOMIC FUNERAL COMPANY (LIMITED), whose shopfront promised “funerals in the best style, and with superior appointments, at one-half the usual cost.”
The hotel was clean, and that is all a Methodist demands. I do not like sheets that smell of a predecessor. My room was simple and small, yet I had me a table and chair for writing and pondering. Twas the modern aspect of the place impressed me most. Each floor had its own water-closet, with a pot of the sort that rinses itself to a purity.
Although my bags had been stowed in my room for hours, the porter insisted on showing me upstairs and demonstrating that splendid convenience at the end of the hall, which I allowed was a marvelous invention and a mighty step in the march of civilization. Of course, I had seen such before, and looked forward to the day when such a device might grace myown home, but such luxury in a hotel that appeared to cater to commercial men spoke well of British hygiene.
Cleanliness is a lovely thing, pleasing to God and man.
The porter seemed to have taken an odd liking to me, for he followed me back to my room after the demonstration. I shook his hand affably when he held it out, but he did not seem to want to go away. Perhaps he had a fondness for the Welsh. I began to unpack my effects and, at last, he put on a disgruntled look and stepped off with a bang of the door. He may have mistaken my weariness for rudeness. I am not at my best with help or servants, for I was not born high, though born most honorably.
I washed my face in the basin provided, then took me down the corridor to enjoy the splendor of that handsome sanitary appliance, which proved a salutary undertaking. Now, it is my habit to write to my Mary Myfanwy and our young John each and every night, and I had posted a baker’s
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