I nodded almost imperceptibly, knowing that the surest way to impress Jones with my breeding was to display no trace of it. I strolled languidly into the hall, deferentially followed by the Infant and Merton Towers, leaving Jones distracted between the desire to handle my luggage and to show me my room. "Hexcuse me, my lord," said Jones, fluttered. "Jane, run for the master." "Excuse _me_, my lord," said the Infant; "I'll run up and wash for lunch. See you in a moment. Come along, Merton. It's so beastly high-up. When are you going to get a lift, Jones?" "In a moment, sir; in a moment!" replied Jones automatically. He seemed half-dazed. The quiet, gentlemanly young proprietor, who appeared to have been disturbed in his studies, for he held a volume of Dickens in his hand, conducted me to a gorgeously furnished bedroom on the first floor facing the sea. "It's the best we can do for your lordship," he said apologetically; "but with the Review so near--" I waved my hand impatiently, wishing he could have done worse for me. In town I had been too busy to realise the situation in detail; but now it began to dawn upon me that it was going to be an expensive joke. Besides, I was separated from my friends, who were corridors away and flights higher, and convivial meetings at midnight would mean disagreeable stockinged wanderings for somebody--a mere shadow of a trifle, no doubt, but little things like that worry more than they look. I was afraid to ask the price of this swell bedroom, and I began to comprehend the meaning of _noblesse oblige_. "The sitting-room adjoins," said the hotel-keeper, suddenly opening a door and ushering me into a magnificent chamber, with a lofty ceiling and a dado. The furniture was plush-covered and suggestive of footmen. "I presume you will not be taking your meals in public?" "H'm! H'm!" I muttered, tugging at my moustache. Then, struck by a bright idea, I said: "What do Mr. Woolwich and Mr. Towers do?" "They join the _table d'hôte_, your lordship," said the proprietor. "They didn't require a sitting-room they said, as they should be almost entirely in the open air." "Oh! well, I could hardly leave my friends," I said reflectively; "I suppose I shall have to join them at the _table d'hôte_." "I daresay they would like to have your lordship with them," said the proprietor, with a faint, flattering smile. I smiled internally at my cunning in getting out of the sitting-room. "It's an awful bore," I yawned; "but I'm afraid they'd be annoyed if I ate up here alone, so--" "You'll invite them up here for all meals? Yes, my lord," said Jones at my elbow. He had sidled up with his cat-like crawl. Through the open door of communication I saw he had deposited my boxes in the gorgeous bedroom. There was a moment of tense silence, in which I struggled desperately for a response. The brazen shudder of a gong vibrated through the house. "Is that lunch?" I asked in relief, making a step towards the door.