CHAPTER XIXB
unny
was sitting in his retreat behind the rhododendrons. He had just come there from afternoon tea, which had been served to him in solitary state in the drawing-room. The spot was a little patch of shade in a world of fierce sunlight. The air was oppressive, as it often is on the last day of a spell of fine weather before the thunderstorm comes and ends it. Not a leaf stirred on the acacia behind him or the tall elms along the wall in front. His fever-racked body was grateful for the warmth, but it somewhat enervated him. He had felt not so well as usual all day, and only his insistence that she should go out and enjoy herself prevailed upon Lady Alicia to set forth after lunch to her garden-party. A pencil and a writing-pad with a few scribbled lines upon it lay on a smal
