"I wish I could share your views," said Farrington, grimly.
He turned abruptly to Doughton.
"Look after Doris," he said. "I have remembered--an engagement."
He beckoned Frank, with a scarcely perceptible gesture, and the two men
passed out of the box.
"Have you discovered anything?" he asked, when they were outside.
"About what?" asked Frank, innocently.
A grim smile broke the tense lines of Mr. Farrington's face.
"Really!" he said, drily, "for a young man engaged in most important
investigations you are casual."
"Oh!--the Tollington business," said the other. "No, Mr. Farrington, I
have found nothing. I don't think it is my game really--investigating
and discovering people. I'm a pretty good short story writer but a
pretty rotten detective. Of course, it is awfully kind of you to have
given me the job----"
"Don't talk nonsense," snapped the older man. "It isn't kindness--it's
self-interest. Somewhere in this country is the heir to the Tollington
millions. I am one of the trustees to that estate and I am naturally
keen on discovering the man who will relieve me of my responsibility.
There is a hundred pounds awaiting the individual who unearths this
heir."
He glanced at his watch.
"There is one other thing I want to speak to you about--and that is
Doris."
They stood in the little corridor which ran at the back of the boxes,
and Frank wondered why he had chosen this moment to discuss such urgent
and intimate matters. He was grateful enough to the millionaire for the
commission he had given him--though with the information to go upon,
looking for the missing Tollington heir was analogous to seeking the
proverbial needle--but grateful for the opportunity which even this
association gave him for meeting Doris Gray, he was quite content to
continue the search indefinitely.
"You know my views," the other went on--he glanced at his watch again.
"I want Doris to marry you. She is a dear girl, the only human being in
the world for whom I have any affection." His voice trembled, and none
could doubt his sincerity. "Somehow I am getting nervous about
things--that shooting which I witnessed the other night has made me
jumpy--go in and win."
He offered a cold hand to the other, and Frank took it, then, with a
little jerk of his head, and a muttered "shan't be gone long," he passed
into the vestibule, and out into the foggy street. A shrill whistle
brought a taxi from the gloom.
"The Savoy," said Farrington. He sprang in, and the cab started with a
jerk.
A minute later he thrust his head from the window.
"You may drop me here," he called. He descended and paid his fare. "I'll
walk the rest of the way," he remarked casually.
"Bit thickish on foot to-night, sir," offered the driver respectfully.
"Better let me set you down at the hotel." But his fare was already lost
in the enveloping mist.
Farrington wrapped his muffler closely about his chin, pulled down his
hat to shadow his eyes, and hurried along like a man with a set
destination.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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