given an answer which could mean little other than that I had not. It could

simply be that a meaningless whim had suddenly overtaken me at that moment - but

that is hardly a convincing way to account for such distinctly odd behaviour. In

any case, I have now come to accept that the incident with the batman is not the

first of its kind; there is little doubt it has some connection - 'though I am

not quite clear of the nature of it - with what occurred a few months ago during

the visit of the Wakefields.

 

Mr and Mrs Wakefield are an American couple who have been settled in England -

somewhere in Kent, I understand - for some twenty years. Having a number of

acquaintances in common with Mr Farraday amidst Boston society, they paid a

short visit one day to Darlington Hall, staying for lunch and leaving before

tea. I now refer to a time only a few weeks after Mr Farraday had himself

arrived at the house, a time when his enthusiasm for his acquisition was at a

height; consequently, much of the Wakefields' visit was taken up with my

employer leading them on what might have seemed to some an unnecessarily

extensive tour of the premises, including all the dust-sheeted areas. Mr and Mrs

Wakefield, however, appeared to be as keen on the inspection as Mr Farraday, and

as I went about my business, I would often catch various American exclamations

of delight coming from whichever part of the house they had arrived at. Mr

Farraday had commenced the tour at the top of the house, and by the time he had

brought his guests down to inspect the magnificence of the ground-floor rooms,

he seemed to be on an elevated plane, pointing out details on corn icings and

window frames, and describing with some flourish 'what the English lords used to

do' in each room.