For he looked for all the world as
though he had been up all night and his knee was painful and rather
stiff, as though he had strained some ligament in it.
"Beastly place is beginning to make its mark on me already!" he said, as
he lathered his chin. "My eyes look as though they had been stuck in with
burnt cork, and--the devil take my shaky hand! And that railroad business
yesterday helps it along. A nice state of affairs for a chap of my age, I
must say! Scared as a kid at an old wives' story. Borkins is a fool, and
I'm an idiot.... Damn! there's a bit off my chin for a start. I hope to
goodness no one takes it into their heads to pay me a visit to-day."
His hopes, however, in this direction were not to be realized, for as
the afternoon wore itself slowly away in a ramble round the old place,
and through the stables--which in their day had been famous--the big,
harsh-throated doorbell rang, and Merriton, in the very act of telling
Borkins that he was officially "not in," happened to catch a glimpse of
something light and fluffy through the stained-glass of the door, and
suddenly kept his counsel.
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