But the young man had been himself and he had missed his opportunity high up on the downs by Arundel.

Words which Jane Repton had spoken to him in Bombay came back to him on this summer afternoon like a refrain to the steady hum of his car.

"You can get what you want, so long as you want it enough, but you cannot control the price you will have to pay." He had reached Little Beeding only a few moments before Dick and Stella had crossed into the garden.

He had been led by Hubbard into the library, where Mr.Hazlewood was sitting.

From the windows he had even seen the thatched cottage where Stella Ballantyne dwelt and its tiny garden bright with flowers.
"It is most kind of you to come," Mr.Hazlewood had said.