“If you please,” said I.

“Splendid.  And now come along.  We can all get In the limousine, and there’s a van for your luggage.”

During the drive from the station I told her the style of the letter she should have received, and disclosed the grave construction placed upon it by the actual recipient.  When I told her that Mr. Boleton and I were now in telegraphic communication, she gave a little crow of delight.

“How priceless!” she cried.  “Perhaps there’ll be a wire when we get back.”

She was wrong.  But only by a few minutes.  Before we had been at Red Abbey for a quarter of an hour, a telegram was handed to me.  Falcon had forwarded it from London.

Forced to regard your conduct as molestful delivery of your luggage will not be accepted parasites will remain boxed and receive necessary attention at your expense and risk pending instructions regarding their removal which should be communicated to station-master direct any attempt on your part to enter Pride Langley to-morrow will be forcibly resisted.

At once I arranged for the dispatch of the following reply—­

At great inconvenience have arranged to postpone arrival of luggage and parasites until to-morrow aaa impossible however to stop elephants seven of which should reach you by road before midnight and remainder by 2 a.m. aaa as already slated am unable at this juncture to cancel my visit but shall certainly never stay at Pride Langley again aaa if “molestful” means what I think it does I shall point you out to the large parasite.

We spent a hilarious evening.

The Irish terrier showed Nobby that hospitality for which the Isle is famous.  He made him free of the house and grounds, showed him the way to the kitchen, and indicated by occupation the most comfortable chairs.  Nobby returned the compliment by initiating his host into the mysteries of a game which consisted of making a circuit of the great hall, ascending the main staircase, entering and erupting from any bedroom of which the door stood open, and descending the staircase—­all of this recurring—­with the least possible delay.  The Irish terrier proved an apt pupil, and, so far as can be judged, if Diana’s maid had not encountered them in the midst of their seventh descent, and been upset, and of vexation nipped by an angry competitor for her pains, the game might have gone on for weeks.  This incident, however, followed by the production of a hunting whip, brought the game to a close and the host to his senses.  Hastily he repaired a grave omission, and a moment later Nobby was cowering in comparative, if inconvenient, safety beneath an enormous tallboy chest.

After dinner cards were brought forth and vingt et un was played.  In a weak moment I volunteered to “carry” Jill, who played with an abandon which was at once exhilarating and extremely expensive.  Her persistent refusal to “stand” on anything less than twenty-one commanded an admiration which, but for my presence, would have been universal.  The only run of luck with which her audacity was favoured coincided with my tenure of the bank, during which period she took fifty-two shillings off me in seven minutes.