Page:The woman, the man, and the monster (IA womanmanmonster00dawe).pdf/193

 IT

That afternoon they drove again to the little inn by the Godalming Road.

“We must have one more day to ourselves,” she said. “To-morrow he will be here.”

Quietly he laughed at her fears. That she should picture the inoffensive J. Smales as a formidable bogey seemed to him highly amusing. What she expected to happen with the advent of that irreproachable one he could not get her to explain. But of one thing he was determined: if the presence of the chauf- feur proved even remotely disagreeable he should go at once. Life was too precious now to have even the suspicion of a shadow flung upon it.

The stout landlady with the merry brown eyes greeted them with a broad smile and a commendable courtesy.

“We have come to take tea in your delight-