褐衣男子27

 “You are right. My real name is Harry Lucas. My father was a retired soldier who came out to farm in Rhodesia. He died when I was in my second year at Cambridge.” ,“Were you fond of him? ” I asked suddenly.,“I—don’t know.
”,Then he flushed and went on with sudden vehemence:,“Why do I say that? I did love my father. We said bitter things to each other the last time I saw him, and we had many rows over my wildness and my debts, but I cared for the old man. I know how much now—when it’s too late,” he continued more quietly. “It was at Cambridge that I met the other fellow—— ”,“Young Eardsley?
”,He paused, and then added, almost apologetically:,“You don’t mind my telling it this way, do you? As though I wasn’t in it at all. It seems like that now when I look back and see those two boys. I almost forget that one of them was—Harry Rayburn.”,“Tell it any way you like, ” I said, and he went on:,“We came to Kimberley—very cock-a-hoop over our find. We brought a magnificent selection of diamonds with us to submit to the experts. And then—in the hotel at Kimberley—we met her——”,I stiffened a little, and the hand that rested on the doorpost clenched itself involuntarily.,