ad to say. But _he_ talked. I was too late for the cream of it; I
only heard him wish her good-bye. 'If your ladyship telegraphs this
morning,' says he, 'when will the man come to me?' Now what do you say to
that?"

"More than I have time to say now, Mr. Toller. Can you find me a
messenger to take a note to Trimley Deen?"

"We have no messengers in this lonesome place, sir."

"Very well. Then I must take my own message. You will see me again, as
soon as I can get back."

Mr. Toller's ready curiosity was roused in a moment.

"Perhaps, you wish to have a look at the repairs?" he suggested in his
most insinuating manner.

"I wish to see what her ladyship's telegram brings forth," I said; "and
mean to be here when 'the man' arrives."

My venerable tenant was delighted. "Turn him inside out, sir, and get at
his secrets. I'll help you."

Returning to Trimley Deen, I ordered the pony-chaise to be got ready, and
a small portmanteau to be packed--speaking in the hall. The sound of my
voice brought Mrs. Roylake out of the morning-room. She was followed by
Lady Rachel. If I could only have heard their private conference, I
should have seen the dangerous side of the Cur's character under a new
aspect.

"Gerard!" cried my stepmother, "what did I hear just now? You can't be
going back to Germany!"

"Certainly not," I answered.

"Going to stay with some friends perhaps?" Lady Rachel suggested. "I
wonder whether I know them?"

It was spitefully done--but, in respect of tone and manner, done to
perfection.

The pony-chaise drew up at the door. This was another of the rare
occasions in my life on which I acted discreetly. It was necessary for me
to say something. I said, "Good morning."

Nothing had happened at the cottage, during the interval of my absence.
Clever as he was, old Toller had never suspected that I should return to
him (with luggage!) in the character of a self-invited guest. His jaw
dropped, and his wicked little eyes appealed to the sky. Merciful
Providence! what have I done to deserve this? There, as I read him, was
the thought in the miller's mind, expressed in my best English.

"Have you got a spare bed in the house?" I asked.

Mr. Toller forgot the respect due to the person who could stop the
repairs at a moment's notice. He answered in the tone of a man who had
been grossly insulted: "No!"

But for the anxieties that oppressed me, I should have only perceived the
humorous side of old Toller's