Half—consciously，hethought:’There’ssomethinginthisdamnedclimatewhichmakesonegoroundinaring。Allthesame，ImusthaveastrainofMayflyblood。’
InthismoodhereachedtheMeccaofhishopes。Itwasoneofthosequietmeetingsfavourabletosuchaswishtolookintohorses，ratherthanintothemouthsofbookmakers;andValclungtothepaddock。
HistwentyyearsofColoniallife，divestinghimofthedandyisminwhichhehadbeenbred，hadlefthimtheessentialneatnessofthehorseman，andgivenhimaqueerandratherblightingeyeoverwhathecalled\"thesillyhaw—haw\"ofsomeEnglishmen，the\"flappingcockatoory\"ofsomeEnglish—women——HollyhadnoneofthatandHollywashismodel。Observant，quick，resourceful，Valwentstraighttotheheartofatransaction，ahorse，adrink;andhewasonhiswaytotheheartofaMayflyfilly，whenaslowvoicesaidathiselbow:
\"Mr。ValDartie？How’sMrs。ValDartie？She’swell，Ihope。\"AndhesawbesidehimtheBelgianhehadmetathissisterImogen’s。
\"ProsperProfond——Imetyouatlunch，\"saidthevoice。