Page:The Secret of Chimneys - 1987.djvu/129



NTHONY regained the terrace with the feeling uppermost in his mind that the only safe place for private conversations was the middle of the lake.

The resonant boom of a gong sounded from the house, and Tredwell appeared in a stately fashion from a side door.

“Luncheon is served, my lord.”

“Ah!” said Lord Caterham, brisking up a little. “Lunch.”

At that moment two children burst out of the house. They were high-spirited young women of twelve and ten, and though their names might be Dulcie and Daisy, as Bundle had affirmed, they appeared to be more generally known as Guggle and Winkle. They executed a kind of war dance, interspersed with shrill whoops, till Bundle emerged and quelled them.

“Where’s Mademoiselle?” she demanded.

“She’s got the migraine, the migraine, the migraine!” chanted Winkle.

“Hurrah!” said Guggle, joining in.

Lord Caterham had succeeded in shepherding most of his guests into the house. Now he laid a restraining hand on Anthony’s arm.

“Come to my study,” he breathed. “I’ve got something rather special there.”

Slinking down the hall, far more like a thief than like the master of the house, Lord Caterham gained the shelter of his sanctum. Here he unlocked a cupboard and produced various bottles.

“Talking to foreigners always makes me so thirsty,” he explained apologetically. “I don’t know why it is.”

There was a knock on the door, and Virginia popped her head round the corner of it.