England -- Fiction; Man-woman relationships -- Fiction; Mothers and daughters -- Fiction; Paris (France) -- Fiction; Women -- Fiction
"Good morning, madam," in a soft, courtly voice.
"Good morning."
"Were you wanting the car, madam?"
She was not, but the suggestion gave her an idea.
"Can we take it as it is?"
"Yes, madam. I'll just look at the petrol gauge ... But ... I haven't had
my breakfast, madam."
"What time do you have it?"
"Well, madam, when you have yours."
"That's all right, then. You've got hours yet. I want you to take me to
Flank Hall."
"Flank Hall, madam?" His tone expressed the fact that his mind was a blank
as to Flank Hall.
As soon as Audrey had comprehended that the situation of Flank Hall was not
necessarily known to every chauffeur in England, and that a stay of one
night in Frinton might not have been enough to familiarise this particular
one with the geography of the entire district, she replied that she would
direct him.
They were held up by a train at the railway crossing, and a milk-cart and a
young pedestrian were also held up. When Audrey identified the pedestrian
she wished momentarily that she had not set out on the expedition. Then she
said to herself that really it did not matter, and why should she be
afraid... etc., etc. The pedestrian was Musa. In French they greeted each
other stiffly, like distant acquaintances, and the train thundered past.
"I was taking the air, simply, Madame," said Musa, with his ingenuous shy
smile.
"Take it in my car," said Audrey with a sudden resolve. "In one hour at
the latest we shall have returned."
She had a great deal to say to him and a great deal to listen to, and there
could not possibly be any occasion equal to the present, which was ideal.
He got in; the chauffeur manoeuvred to oust the milk-cart from its rightful
precedence, the gates opened, and the car swung at gathering speed into the
well-remembered road to Moze. And the two passengers said nothing to each
other of the slightest import. Musa's escape from Paris was between them;
the unimaginable episode at the Spatts was between them; the sleepless
night was between them. (And had she not saved him by her presence of mind
from the murderous hand of Mr. Ziegler?) They had a million things to
impart. And yet naught was uttered save a few banalities about the weather
and about the healthfulness of being up early. They were bashful,
constrained, altogether too young and inexperienced. They wanted to behave
in the grand, social, easeful manner of a celebrated public performer and
an heiress worth ten million francs. And they could only succeed in being a
boy and a girl. The chauffeur alone, at from thirty to forty miles an hour,
was worthy of himself and his high vocation. Both the passengers regretted
that they had left their beds. Happily the car laughed at the alleged
distance between Frinton and Moze. In a few minutes, as it seemed, with
but one false turning, due to the impetuosity of the chauffeur, the vehicle
drew up before the gates of Flank Hall. Audrey had avoided the village of
Moze. The passengers descended.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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