Page:A M Williamson - The Motor Maid.djvu/108

92 They 've got to see the Gorge of the Tarn. They don't know that yet, but they have."

"And won't they like seeing it?"

"Lady Turnour will hate it."

"Then we may as well give it up. Her will is mightier than the sword."

"Once she 's in, there 'll be no turning back. She 'll have to push on to the end."

"She may n't consent to go in."

"Queen Margherita of Italy is said to have the idea of visiting the Tarn next summer. Think what it would mean to Lady Turnour to get the start of a queen!"

"You are Machiavelian! When did you have this inspiration?"

"Well, I got thinking last night that, as they have plenty of time—almost as much time as money—it seemed a pity that I should whirl them along the road to Paris at the rate planned originally. You see, though there are plenty of interesting places on the way mapped out—you've been to Tours, you say ⸺"

"What of that?"

"Oh, the trip might as well be new for everybody except myself; and as you like adventures ⸺"

"You think it 's the Turnours' duty to have them."

"Just so. If only to punish her ladyship for grinding you down to fifty francs a month. What a reptile!"

"If she 's a reptile, I 'm a cat to plot against her."

"Do cats plot? Only against mice, I think. And anyhow, I 'm doing all the plotting. I 've felt a different man since yesterday. I 've got something to live for."

"Oh, what?" The question asked itself.