The TruantsMason, A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley)
General
The Truants
Mason, A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley)
Fiction
She went down to Monte Carlo in the morning, and again saw Lionel
Callon upon the terrace, and again noticed that he was alone. Yet on
the whole she was not surprised. Millie Stretton's name figured as yet
in no visitors' list, and Pamela was quite sure that if Millie
Stretton had come south the name would have been inserted. It was
impossible that Millie Stretton could come to Monte Carlo, or to,
indeed, any hotel upon the Riviera, under a false name. She could not
but meet acquaintances and friends at every step, during this season
of the year. To assume a name which was not hers would be an act of
stupidity too gross. None the less Pamela was relieved. She avoided
Callon's notice, and acting upon a sudden impulse, went out from the
garden, hired a carriage, and ordered the coachman to drive along the
lower Corniche Road in the direction of Beaulieu.
Pamela was growing harassed and anxious. The days were passing, and no
message had yet come from Alan Warrisden. She suspected the presence
of Lionel Callon on the Riviera more and more. More and more she
dreaded the arrival of Millie Stretton. There was nothing now which
she could do. She had that hard lot which falls to women, the lot of
waiting. But she could not wait with folded hands. She must be doing
something; even though that something were altogether trivial and
useless, it still helped her through the hours. In this spirit she
drove out from Monte Carlo at twelve o'clock, without a thought that
her drive was to assist her toward the end on which she had set her
heart.
She drove past the back of the big hotel at Eze. Just beyond, a deep
gorge runs from the hills straight down to the sea. The road carves
round the head of the gorge and bends again to the shore. Pamela drove
round the gorge, and coming again to the shore, went forward by the
side of the sea. After a few minutes she bade the driver stop. In
front of her the road rose a little, and then on the other side of the
crest dipped down a steep hill. On her left a pair of iron gates stood
open. From those gates a carriage-drive ran in two zigzags between
borders of flowers down to an open gravel space in front of a long
one-storied building. The building faced upon the road, but at a lower
level, so that even the flat roof was below Pamela. The building was
prettily built, and roses and magnolias climbed against the walls,
making it gay. The door in the middle stood open, but there was no
sign of life about the house. Pamela sat gazing down into the garden,
with its bushes and brightly-coloured flowers.
Pamela spoke to the driver.
"What place is this?" she asked.
"It was only built last year," the man replied, and he told her enough
for her to know that this was the _Réserve_ at which Lionel Callon was
staying.
"Few people come here?" said Pamela.
"It is not known yet," replied the driver. "It is such a little while
since it has been opened."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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