ER XV

MR. SAUNDERS HAS A PLAN

Miss Pelham's affair with Thomas Saunders by this time had reached the
stage where observers feel a hesitancy about twitting the parties most
concerned. Even Britt, the bravest jester of them all, succumbed to the
prevailing wind when he saw how it blew. He got in the lee of popular
opinion and reefed the sails of the good ship _Tantalus_.

"Let true love take its course," he remarked to Bobby Browne one day,
after they had hearkened to Deppingham's furious complaint that he
couldn't find Saunders when he wanted him if he happened to be wanted
simultaneously by Miss Pelham. "Miss Pelham is a fine girl. Your wife
likes her and looks after her. She's a clever girl, much cleverer than
Saunders would be if he were a girl. She's found out that he earns a
thousand a year and that his mother is a very old woman. That shows
foresight. She says she's just crazy about London, although she doesn't
know where Hammersmith is. That shows discretion. She's anxious to see
the boats at Putney and talks like an encyclopaedia about Kew Gardens.
That shows diplomacy. You see, Saunders lives in Hammersmith, not far
from the bridge, all alone with his mother, who owns the house and
garden. It's all very appealing to Miss Pelham, who has got devilish
tired of seeing the universe from a nineteenth story in Broadway. I
heard her tell Saunders that she keeps a couple of geranium pots on the
window sill near which she sits all day. She says she's keen about
garden flowers. Looks serious to me."

"She's a very nice girl," agreed Bobby Browne.

"A very saucy one," added Deppingham, who had come a severe cropper in
his single attempt to interest her in a mild flirtation.

"She's off with Saunders now," went on Britt. "That's why you can't find
him, my lord. If you really want him, however, I think you can reach him
by strolling through the lower end of the park and shouting. For
heaven's sake, don't fail to shout."

"I _do_ want him, confound him. I want to ask him how many days there
are left before our time is up on the island. Demmed annoying, that I
can't have legal advice when I--"

"How many days have you been here?"

"How the devil should I know? That's what we've got Saunders here for.
He's supposed to tell us when to go home, and all that sort of thing,
you know."

"It isn't going to be so bad, now that the Princess has come to cheer us
up a bit," put in Bobby Browne. "Life has a new aspect."