Colonel Thorndyke's SecretHenty, G. A. (George Alfred)
General
Colonel Thorndyke's Secret
Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
Detective and mystery stories; Hindus -- England -- Fiction; India -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
When the letter came it was satisfactory. The prisoners, seeing the
hopelessness of any defense, had all admitted their guilt, and the name
of the man who had dealt with them had also been given up. Except in his
case there would be no trial. The others would have sentences passed
on them at once, and three, who had been promised comparatively slight
punishment, would go into the box to give evidence against the man
who had engaged them. Before starting for Holland Mark had consulted
Millicent as to whether she would prefer being married in London or at
Crowswood. She had replied:
“I should greatly prefer Crowswood, Mark. Here we know no one, there we
should be among all our friends; certainly if we don't go we must get
Mr. Greg to come up and marry us here. I am sure he would feel very
disappointed if anyone else were asked. At the same time I should not
like to go home. When we come back from our trip it will be different;
but it would be a great trial now, and however happy we might be, I
should feel there was a gloom over the house.”
“I quite agree with you, Millicent. When we come back we can see about
entirely refurnishing it, and, perhaps, adding some rooms to it, and we
need not go down until a complete change has been made. We shall be able
to manage it somehow or other, and I quite agree with you that anything
will be better than going back to the house for a day or two before the
wedding.”
On the voyage back from Holland Mark had talked the matter over with
Dick Chetwynd, and said that he thought of taking rooms for Mrs.
Cunningham and Millicent at Reigate, and stopping at the hotel himself,
and having the wedding breakfast there.
“Of course, Dick, you will be my best man.”
“I should think so,” Dick laughed. “Why, if you had asked anyone else
I should have made a personal matter of it with him, and have given
him the option of resigning the position or going out with me. But your
other plans are foolish, and I shall take the matter into my own hands;
I shall insist upon the two ladies coming down to the Park, and I will
get my aunt to come and preside generally over things. I shall fill up
the house with bridesmaids, and shall have a dance the evening before.
You can put up at the hotel if you like, but you know very well that
there are a dozen houses where they will be delighted to have you; there
is no doubt that when they know what is coming off you will get a dozen
invitations, and then after church all those invited will drive off to
the Park to the wedding breakfast. After that is over you can start in a
post chaise to Canterbury or Dover, wherever you may decide to make your
first halt.”
“But, my dear Dick, I could not put you to all this trouble!”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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