“Iunderstand，“shesaid，“thatyouhavesomeparticularreasonfornotwishingMr。HameltoleaveSt。David’sHall。“
Hesmiledbenignly。
“Youdomyhospitableimpulsesfulljustice，dearEsther，“hedeclared。“SometimesIthinkthatyouunderstandmealmostaswellasyourdearmother。If，byanychance，Mr。HamelshouldchangehismindastotakinguphisresidenceattheTower，Ithinkyouwouldnotfindmeinanysenseofthewordanobdurateorexactingguardian。Comealong，Mr。Hamel。Thatseatoppositetousisquitecomfortable。Yousee，Iresignmyselftotheinevitable。Ihavecometofetchgolfershometoluncheon，andIcomposemyselftolisten。Whichofyouwillbegintheepicofmissedputtsandbrasseyshotswhichfailedbyafoottocarry？“
Hamelsataloneupontheterrace，hisafternooncoffeeonasmalltableinfrontofhim。HiseyeswerefixeduponablackspeckattheendofthelevelroadwaywhichledtotheTower。Onlyafewminutesbefore，Mr。Fentolin，inhislittlecarriage，badshotoutfromthepassagebeneaththeterrace，onhiswaytotheTower。
BehindhimcameMeekins，bendingoverhisbicycle。Hamelwatchedthembothwiththoughtfuleyes。Therewereseverallittleincidentsinconnectionwiththeirexpeditionwhichhescarcelyunderstood。