"
"Miss King is out, sir," said the maid.
"Where is she? When did she go out? When will she be home?"
The servant could have answered two of the three questions without
difficulty. She knew when Miss King went out. She also knew where she
had gone to. She could have guessed at the hour of her return; but
seeing that Meldon appeared to be in a hurry she took her revenge for
the violent ringing of the bell which had disturbed her.
"I'll go and enquire, sir," she said.
She spent nearly ten minutes making enquiries. Then she returned with
the information that Miss King had gone out immediately after luncheon.
She had accompanied Sir Gilbert Hawkesby to the river where he intended
to fish.
"She's gone with Sir Gilbert Hawkesby!" said Meldon.
"Yes, sir."
Meldon turned away and walked slowly down the avenue. When he reached
the tennis court he propped his bicycle up against a tree and took out
his pipe. Miss King's brilliant hammock was still hanging between the
two trees to which Callaghan had attached it on the morning after her
arrival. Meldon lit his pipe and lay down in the hammock. He was
puzzled. Miss King's conduct was unaccountable.
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