OF THE 
 
 CHARLES E.PEARCE
 
 r I ' 

 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 . Of C
 
 A QUEEN OF THE 
 PADDOCK 
 
 BY 
 
 CHARLES E. PEARCE 
 
 AUTHOR OF ''CORINTHIAN JACK," "LOVE BESEIGED," 
 
 "THE EYES OF ALICIA," "STIRRING DEEDS OF THE 
 
 GREAT WAR," ETC. ETC. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 BRENTANO'S 
 
 1921.
 
 Printed in Great Britain.
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 ON THE SEAMY SIDE 
 
 " Madame's coffee is ready." 
 
 A smothered response from the picture-bed, with its 
 silken hangings and lace pillows, an impatient move- 
 ment of the round shoulders. Silence, broken by the 
 whisking of Fifine's skirts as she turned to open the 
 window, and the persiennes outside. 
 
 Five minutes of silence and blazing sunlight, and 
 Fifine spoke again. 
 
 " Madame's coffee is getting cold." 
 
 Madame probably found the sunlight somewhat 
 trying. The long, dark lashes slowly parted and 
 disclosed a pair of large blue Irish eyes beautiful 
 eyes undoubtedly, innocent-looking or wicked just 
 as the owner pleased. At this moment they were 
 languid and slightly weary. The corners of the hand- 
 some audacious mouth were curved a little downwards. 
 Mdme. Violetta Vaughan, generally known as^Mdme. 
 Violetta, and not infrequently as " Violetta " alone, 
 had had a restless night. 
 
 " Chartreuse, Fifine, and the eau de Cologne spray," 
 said she in a tired voice. 
 
 The first was dropped into the coffee, the second was 
 showered on the lady's forehead. 
 
 Under these stimulating and refreshing influences 
 Mdme. Violetta revived somewhat and asked for the 
 English papers. 
 
 5 
 
 2132042
 
 6 A QUEEX OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 The season at Monte Carlo was almost over ; all 
 the gamblers, or nearly all, had departed, the hotels 
 were rapidly discharging their waiters, the sun was 
 gaining power, the air was becoming stifling, and the 
 heat unbearable. 
 
 Mdme. Violetta had stayed on simply because she 
 had no plans ; but she would have to do something, 
 and so she had sent for the English papers to gain 
 inspiration. 
 
 Her eyes went listlessly over the columns. She 
 saw nothing that interested her or that suggested a 
 welcome change from the aridity and dullness of the 
 Riviera in the summer months. Besides, the paper 
 was nearly a year old ! 
 
 She was about to throw it aside with an impatient 
 little moite when her attitude, her expression of lassitude, 
 suddenly changed. She had caught sight of a paragraph 
 which had taken her memory back a few years. 
 
 The paragraph which had brought about such a 
 magical transformation was in a column of " Society 
 pars," and ran thus : " Sir John Norman, whose 
 health after his recent bereavement has caused great 
 anxiety to his numerous friends, has left town with 
 his sister Miss Ella Norman, for Normanhurst, his 
 picturesque mansion in Sussex. We understand he 
 intends presenting a stained-glass window to Norman- 
 hurst Church in memory of the late Lady Norman." 
 
 The deep blue eyes sparkled, the red lips curved 
 mockingly. 
 
 " Bereavement ill health stained glass window ! 
 How funny," laughed the lady. " Why, the woman 
 had for ten )'ears been what the world is pleased to 
 term mentally afflicted." 
 
 Then amusement departed from the beautiful face 
 and thought took its place. 
 
 Five years before Violetta Vaughan was a pupil 
 teacher at a fashionable boarding-school in Eastbourne. 
 She had been admitted on what is called " mutual
 
 terms." In return for her intimate acquaintance with 
 French and German, to be available, for the school 
 in general, she had received instruction in music, drawing, 
 and other " extras " which go to make up a " finishing 
 education." 
 
 But it was not solely for these accomplishments that 
 Violetta had been sent to Montpellier House. Captain 
 Vaughan, her father, who if he never seemed to be 
 blest with this world's coin, had plenty of the world's 
 wisdom and experience, told his daughter to make 
 advantageous acquaintances among the aristocratic 
 pupils, and she had not failed to take the parental advice. 
 
 Ella Norman, one of these aristocratic young ladies, 
 at the end of her last term invited Violetta to spend 
 the summer vacation at Normanhurst. Violetta 
 accepted the invitation gratefully, and as part of her 
 vocation was to make herself agreeable and as she 
 had in addition a great capacity for getting all the 
 enjoyment out of life that came in her way, she 
 thoroughly ingratiated herself with the whole household, 
 and especially with Sir John Norman. 
 
 She had not been twenty-four hours in the old mansion 
 before her quick brain had summed up the character of 
 the baronet. 
 
 " Easy-going good-natured susceptible could 
 be fooled by any pretty woman who likes to take the 
 trouble to flatter him," was her summary, and she 
 was not far out. 
 
 But what was the use of her wasting her blandishments 
 when they were likely to lead to nothing ? To begin 
 with, Sir John was married. He was also a grass 
 widower, but in his case a loosening of the marriage 
 tie made no difference, and Violetta had not been long 
 at Normanhurst before she discovered this. Not 
 that it mattered very much to her. She was by no 
 means anxious for married life. 
 
 Lady Norman was then a patient in a doctor's house 
 and likely to remain one. Her brain was affected.
 
 S A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 She had delusions and among them was an intense 
 jealousy of her husband. She had been pronounced 
 incurable. 
 
 The baronet, poor man, had never given his wife the 
 slightest cause for uneasiness. He had been brought up 
 strictly and he had naturally a profound respect for 
 the proprieties, and a hatred of scandal. He was not 
 blessed (or cursed) with strong passions, and no one 
 was less likely than he to figure in the divorce court. 
 
 At this time Violetta was a young woman of twenty- 
 two and of fascinating manners. Though she had not 
 long since arrived at years of discretion she had acquired 
 an intimate acquaintance with the underworld of 
 civilised life, which few to look at her would have 
 suspected. During her teens and until her father 
 elected to prepare her for another sphere in which to 
 exercise her talents, she had had few acquaintances 
 outside the " horsey " circle of which Capt. Vaughan 
 was the moving spirit. Some of the members were 
 very shady individuals and it was doubtful whether 
 the gallant captain himself could be said to reach a 
 high standard of respectability. 
 
 The extraordinary thing was that Violetta never 
 betrayed that she had once rubbed shoulders with a 
 stratum of society represented by men and women 
 whose only occupation appeared to be to haunt race 
 courses and restaurants. 
 
 Violetta Vaughan and Ella Norman got on fairly 
 well together. There was only three years difference 
 between their ages, and Violetta never made the mistake 
 of presuming upon her seniority. Besides, she had 
 infinite tact and was really clever and amusing. She 
 had had some years' experience of Paris, and could 
 sing little French songs with all the /verve and gesture 
 of a cafe chantant star. But she was always very 
 discreet in her selection and performance when Sir 
 John was present. 
 
 Violetta enjoyed herself immensely at Normanhurst.
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK o. 
 
 She was passionately fond of horses and rode as one 
 to the manner born. Sir John Norman had a stable 
 of fine hunters, and when he showed her his stud he 
 was amazed at her knowledge of horseflesh, and her 
 shrewdness in pointing out the good qualities and the 
 defects of the various animals. 
 
 He was still more amazed at her boldness and dexterity 
 in the hunting field. But her father had been a cavalry 
 officer, and after he left the army had, among other 
 speculations, started a riding school, and from her 
 earliest years Violetta had been used to the saddle. 
 
 Violetta left Normanhurst with the promise made 
 both to Ella and Sir John (who showed great warmth 
 in his invitation) to repeat her visit at no distant date. 
 
 She intended to keep her word, but the unexpected 
 happened. A crisis came in her life, and she turned 
 her back on respectability at least, what is so termed 
 in England. Abroad, manners and ideas are more 
 elastic. 
 
 It was all through that ne'er-do-well father of hers. 
 He had been thriftless, and unscrupulous, and when 
 in the army he had gone through the Boer War with 
 credit so far as mere fighting was concerned, but on 
 his return to England, it had been found necessary 
 for him to throw up his commission to prevent awkward 
 consequences. It was suspected that at cards his 
 luck was more than phenomenal. 
 
 After many vicissitudes he ran a sort of gambling 
 and betting club. This was soon after Violetta's visit 
 to Normanhurst. She had had enough of pupil teaching, 
 she had acquired the smart society air, and Capt. 
 Vaughan saw how useful she could be to him. 
 
 He gauged her determination and business capacity 
 correctly, and he had no hesitation in placing her in 
 charge of the buffet at the club. He knew she could 
 take care of herself without losing any of her fascination. 
 She had the power of keeping the rather rowdy members 
 in their place. Sometimes a new man attracted by her
 
 to A QUEEN 0$ THE 
 
 striking appearance endeavoured to pay her obtrusive 
 attention. He soon found out his mistake. 
 
 Apart from her management of the buffet she took 
 a great interest in the race course. She was as well 
 up in betting mysteries as the most expert turfite, and 
 if she cared she would have been a most successful 
 bookmaker. The same with cards. There was not 
 a game which she did not know from A to Z. Few 
 could beat her at " poker " or " bridge," if she held 
 the cards, but she was nearly always unlucky. 
 
 She was a puzzle to men. When she was in the 
 mood, she could flirt as few women could, but with 
 her it was much the same as playing a game of cards. 
 She would lead a man on, only to treat him with in- 
 difference. 
 
 Was she capable of love ? No one could tell. She 
 was an enigma. Yet there were moments when a 
 light flashed in the mystic eyes which served to say 
 that deep in her nature were the elements of a fire 
 which if kindled might blaze up with irresistible force. 
 
 One morning before the members began to drop in 
 and when Violetta was making preparations for the 
 day's business, Captain Vaughan sauntered in smoking 
 a cigar. Said he in a casual way : 
 
 " This show's cracked up, Vi." 
 
 " I'm not surprised," she rejoined, quite as cool as 
 her father. " What are you going to do ? " 
 
 " Scoot. Paris. How does that suit you ? " 
 
 " It's what you should have done long ago. I told 
 you the club was not swell enough to bring you in 
 any money. It's too low down and always will be.'" 
 
 " You've hit the right nail on the head, my girl, as 
 you generally do. No chance of airing your graces 
 and accomplishments. They're wasted here. A pity, 
 too, after laying in a stock of " high tone " at that 
 Eastbourne place." 
 
 Violetta shrugged her shapely shoulders, and a gleam 
 shot into her eyes as much as to say that there was
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 11 
 
 still plenty of time to show what talent she possessed. 
 
 She was glad the club had come to an end. She 
 hated the men with whom she had to mix. They were 
 most of them " bookies " and hangers-on of the turf 
 in various capacities. Many of them were somewhat 
 mysterious in their ways, and what they did for a living 
 in the off season when racing was over was only known 
 to themselves. 
 
 Occasionally men of a different character found 
 their way into the club, or, to speak correctly, were 
 introduced. They were chief!}' young fools who, with 
 more money than brains, were " seeing life," often 
 at bitter cost to their pockets and health. Some of 
 them were of the vulgar rich variety, and these Violetta 
 effectually kept at a distance, and left them to fool 
 themselves to the top of their bent. Others were of 
 good birth and sowed their wild oats out of a super- 
 abundance of high spirits. They had no vice ; they 
 were simply reckless, and when Violetta took sufficient 
 interest in any of them she whispered warnings against 
 certain members of the club warnings which somehow 
 got known to the riffraff, whose deadly hatred she 
 incurred accordingly. 
 
 Violetta held her own and was indifferent to what 
 these disreputable personages thought of her, but the 
 life was not pleasant, and she was heartily tired of it. 
 So she gladly went off with her father to Paris that 
 Paris she knew so well and loved as a child and where 
 she felt more at home than in London. 
 
 The journey was a secret and a hurried one. Captain 
 Vaughan scraped together all the money he could 
 lay hold of and established himself in Paris as a 
 " prophet." He was possessed of a list of the names 
 and addresses of English patrons of the turf, and he 
 got together a number of subscribers to his weekly 
 racing sheet. He might have done well, but he chose 
 to buy a steeplechaser and pose as a gentleman rider. 
 He broke his neck at Autueil.
 
 Violetta backed horses and systematically disregarded 
 her father's tips. Perhaps that was why she frequently 
 won. After Captain Vaughan's death, she took a 
 dislike to the betting fraternity, but the gambling spirit 
 was strong within her and she went off to Monte Carlo 
 to try her luck at the Casino. 
 
 But the good fortune that attended her on the turf 
 deserted her at the gaming table. She struggled half 
 way through the season and came to the end of her 
 resources. 
 
 Then in some curious way it got whispered about 
 that though she had, to use her own words, " infernally 
 bad luck," yet she brought luck to others." 
 
 With her usual shrewdness she utilised this reputation 
 of her's she became a " Mascot te " and she found it 
 pay. Of course, she could not always win, but certain 
 it was that when she staked for other people her luck 
 was amazing, and at times she was loaded with presents. 
 " La Mascotte, Violetta," became the rage. 
 
 The paper dropped from her hand as the serious look 
 came into her eyes, and she rang the bell impatiently. 
 
 " Fifine," she cried, " pack up at once. I leave to-day 
 for Paris." 
 
 " Madame ! " exclaimed the startled maid. 
 
 " I spoke plainly, didn't I ? I'm tired of posing as a 
 " mascotte " for other people. I am going to play 
 the part for myself. Make haste. To-day I bid farewell 
 for ever to Monte Carlo. No more rouge-et-noir no 
 more Russian Princes with Tartar faces and French 
 Counts with tigerish eyes. England, Fifine, Eng- 
 land ! " 
 
 " Madame will kill herself with ennui and the fog," 
 said Fifine, with a shrug of her pretty round shoulders. 
 
 But she packed Madame's trunks nevertheless. 
 
 Violetta went through her hotel account and her 
 exchequer. The first was larger and the second was 
 smaller than she expected. She had enough to leave 
 Monaco with a clear conscience and to pay her fare
 
 13 
 
 to England, but this by itself did not suffice. She 
 must have funds when she arrived in London. 
 
 All that day she was in a dozen different moods. 
 She was angry with Fifine about nothing at all one 
 moment and was almost apologetic the next. The 
 girl understood perfectly well what was the matter. 
 Madame (Violetta by the way, always termed herself 
 " Madame," and though she never said precisely that 
 she had been married she allowed people to think so 
 the assumption she found gave her more freedom) 
 was suffering from " nerves." 
 
 The emotional Fifine was considerate and sympathetic. 
 Who would not be in a bad temper at the thought of 
 exchanging the sunny skies and the gaiety of the Riviera 
 for the smoke and drabness of London ? The girl 
 was not a bit surprised when her mistress suddenly 
 announced that she intended to defer her departure 
 until the next day. 
 
 " I shall go to the Casino to-night " she declared. 
 
 The step was a desperate one, but what other way 
 was there ? 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 THE MAGIC OF A " MASCOTTE " 
 
 THE opalescent sky was unflecked by a single cloud. 
 The moon shone so brightly that everything was revealed 
 as distinctly as though it were day. The shadows where 
 ever they were cast were as black as ink, and their 
 very blackness seemed to accentuate the light elsewhere. 
 Violetta hurried through the Casino gardens indifferent 
 to everything save her resolve to "plunge," whatever 
 might be the outcome. The flamboyant nondescript 
 architecture of the Casino with its elaborate ornamented
 
 14 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 front and dual towers did not appeal to her, picturesque 
 though it looked now that its vulgarities were subdued 
 by the pale light of the moon. The trim garden where 
 European and Eastern shrubs grew with equal luxuriance 
 might have been a wilderness for any thought she 
 bestowed upon it. 
 
 Signs of the waning season were evident in the small 
 numbers of visitors strolling towards the Casino and 
 promenading the terrace overlooking the mirror-like 
 sea. There was hardly a breath of wind to disturb 
 the heated air. The refreshing coolness of the night 
 was gone. Before many days had passed Monte Carlo 
 so delightful in the winter, would be unendurable. 
 
 As Violetta drew near the portals of the Casino she 
 heard the faint sound of music. It came from the opera 
 house ; part of the attractions of the famous gambling 
 resort. " Carmen " was being played. The opera 
 was a favourite with Violetta but it did not detain 
 her now. Within a minute or two she had entered the 
 gambling salon. 
 
 There were not many punters, the usual tourists 
 had had their fling, had spent their available cash and 
 had departed, some back to the decorum and monotony 
 of the warehouse, the counting house, and the stock 
 exchange ; others to make up their losses at rouge- 
 et-noir, with the opening of flat racing or to increase 
 them. 
 
 Violetta cast a rapid glance round the table. Had 
 she chosen to assume her old role of " Mascotte " she 
 would have had small opportunities. The princes 
 and grand dukes, Russian, Rumanian and Bulgarian 
 had departed. A few fat Belgian manufacturers and 
 merchants remained, but they had no imagination, 
 they did not believe in " mascottes." As for the women, 
 Violetta had never found them patronise her. To 
 begin with, she was too good looking, and apart from 
 this, the women gamblers generally looked upon each 
 other with hatred and jealousy. Had it been otherwise
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 15 
 
 these ladies who were seated at the table had far too 
 profound a belief in their own judgment to trust to 
 that of others. 
 
 There they were now, old painted harridans with 
 the faces of hawks and the necks of vultures; middle- 
 aged matrons, most of them running to fat, and young 
 women, outrageously decollete, worn, haggard, and old 
 before their time. 
 
 But whatever might be their faces and figures, they 
 all had the same look in their eyes the strained, eager, 
 glassy concentrated stare of the inveterate gambler. 
 The excitement of play had become part of their lives 
 it might also be said of their deaths. 
 
 It was, Violetta considered, a most uninteresting 
 crowd. She knew the types by heart. Nor were the 
 visitors wandering about or standing gazing at the 
 revolving, fateful little ball, and the rakes of the croupiers 
 like the extended claws of some gigantic carrion bird, 
 less so. She took a vacant seat and watched the 
 fluctuations of the game before she chanced her luck. 
 
 The room big as it was, was intensely hot. The 
 silence, broken only by the monotonous voice of the 
 croupier with his eternal " Rien ne va plus," followed 
 by the proclamation of the winning colour, was 
 oppressive. Both were getting on her nerves, she 
 wou)d not be able to retain her impatience much longer. 
 
 She had no belief in systems, she had seen too many 
 come to grief in horse racing circles, but she could not 
 help counting the number of times red had won. A 
 sequence of six had brought luck to a few. Would it be 
 maintained to the next round, the mystic number of 
 seven ? She was strongly tempted, but she who hesitates 
 is lost, she delayed and was half a second too late. 
 The decisive " Rien ne va plus " had beaten her, again 
 red was declared. 
 
 It could go on no longer she told herself, and when 
 the time came for placing the stakes she threw down a 
 too franc note on the black. She saw it swept away.
 
 16 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 It was no consolation to her that a man standing behind 
 her chair had lost ten times more than she had. 
 
 She was angered but not discouraged. She ventured 
 another 100 francs again on the black. The man 
 behind her did not stake. 
 
 " Much wiser to cut your losses at once " she heard 
 him whisper. 
 
 And so it would have been. Once more she lost. 
 She was the poorer by 200 francs, and she wanted to 
 make at least a thousand. 
 
 Violetta had brought with her 400 francs. It was 
 inconceivable that red should be eternally the winning 
 colour. Already eight times ! She had never seen 
 the like of it, surely this monotony could not go on. 
 If she plunged with all she had got and won, she would 
 get all she wished for and more. Some mysterious 
 tempter was urging her on, She would not allow 
 herself to think, but swiftly dragged out her small 
 parcel of notes and adhered to the black which had 
 hitherto played her false. 
 
 " I warned you," said the voice behind. 
 
 She made a gesture of impatience ; this stranger 
 who persisted in interfering with his superflous warnings 
 was a nuisance. Had she not been so absorbed in 
 the game she would have administered a sharp rebuke. 
 But she remained silent, under a strain upon her nerves 
 which was almost too much for her powers of endurance. 
 She sat with tightly compressed lips and slowly paling 
 cheeks watching the revolution of the fiendish little 
 ball. It moved slower and slower, then seemed to 
 tremble and be uncertain what to do. It hovered 
 between red and black. It stopped. Red ! Violetta 
 pushed her chair a few inches from the table, and 
 remained motionless. She felt as if her heart had 
 ceased to beat. 
 
 Then she rose. The nerve tension and the consequent 
 re-action had become unbearable. While within the 
 scene of her disaster and with the mechanical chant of
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 17 
 
 the croupier in her ears she could not think. And she 
 had so much to think about ! 
 
 She wheeled swiftly round to fly from the hateful 
 place and came face to face with the man behind her 
 chair. She had forgotten him, but his presence there 
 reminded her of his warning. She took a dislike to him 
 because his warnings had been justified, 
 
 " My chair is at your service," said she coldly. 
 " Perhaps you would like to play according to your 
 judgment. It seems to have been quite accurate 
 as far as I'm concerned.'" 
 
 She spoke to him in English for he had all the Anglo- 
 Saxon characteristics. 
 
 " I'm sorry," said he. " Have you lost heavily ? " 
 
 " No ; I dare say you saw what I staked." 
 
 " That isn't the point. The stake doesn't count. 
 It's what you can afford to lose that matters." 
 
 " Then if you care to know, I can afford to lose 
 nothing." 
 
 Violetta had not intended to talk so much to a perfect 
 stranger, especially as when she was gone he would 
 probably chuckle at her obstinacy in disregarding his 
 advice. She was about to walk away, but he detained 
 her. 
 
 " I understand. Pardon me for making the sugges- 
 tion, but can I help you ? My purse is at your disposal." 
 
 " No," she flashed. 
 
 " Don't be angry. I mean nothing but a desire to 
 be of use." 
 
 " You can be of no use," she retorted. 
 
 A cold, incredulous smile went over his narrow face. 
 He was a tall, thin wiry man, slightly bent in the 
 shoulders. His complexion was of an even brownish 
 tinge the complexion of one who lived much in the 
 open air. The narrowness of his features was ac- 
 centuated by his long straight nose, his thin lips, and 
 slightly pointed chin. His eyes were grey and quite 
 expressionless. There was something about him and
 
 i8 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 his figure which seemed familiar to her. His whole 
 appearance took her mind back to the days at her 
 father's club, and to the race courses at Auteuil and 
 Chantilly. She knew the cut of a racing man. No 
 one better. 
 
 Again she made a movement to escape his attentions, 
 but he waved his hand with a gesture of dissent. 
 
 " It might be as well if I told you why you were 
 wrong in staking a second time. May I ? " 
 
 " For my future benefit, I suppose ? " 
 
 " Yes, though I doubt if it will make much difference. 
 I guess you're a woman who will always go her own way. 
 You noticed I dare say that I also lost and then ceased 
 to play." 
 
 " Yes, you hadn't the courage to go on, I presume," 
 she rejoined a little contemptuously. 
 
 " Not at all. I was simply acting on a system that's 
 fairly safe. It was laid down by the founder of the 
 casino, M. Blanc." 
 
 " An excellent authority since he made a fortune out 
 of the losses of his patrons," she replied still more scorn- 
 fully. 
 
 " And therefore he was likely to know. Anyhow, his 
 advice is worth remembering, and so far as my experience 
 has gone it is well founded. Of course the real safe 
 system is never to play, but short of that, said M. Blanc, 
 the game is to stake once and once only each night. I've 
 always adhered to that rule, and I've generally found 
 myself on the winning side in the long run." 
 
 " Thank you. I'll not forget," she returned ironically. 
 " But I fear I shan't be able to test your admirable 
 method. This is probably my last visit to the tables. 
 The casino closes next week. I wish you good even- 
 ing." 
 
 " Wait one moment. I've noticed you here many 
 times but I've never before to-night seen you play. 
 I'm told you are a wonderful ' mascotte.' Is it 
 true ? "
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 19 
 
 " That I'm wonderful ? I can't say. I've never 
 thought about it." 
 
 " You said just now I'd no courage. I should like 
 to show you that you're wrong." 
 
 " Oh, you can easily do that, but you must excuse 
 me if I do not remain to see you prove your assertion. 
 I'm not interested one way or the other." 
 
 " I don't mean that. I wanted to test my courage 
 with your assistance. I should like you to act as my 
 ' mascotte.' " 
 
 " Thank you, but I must refuse. I'm retiring from 
 the profession." 
 
 In spite of her words she was interested, not perhaps 
 in the man himself as in his quiet pertinacity. 
 
 " I congratulate you. At the same time I observe 
 that you did not say you had retired. Please oblige me 
 once." 
 
 She hesitated. The talk had done her good. Her 
 nervous system was recovering its tone. A reckless 
 indifference had seized her a not uncommon frame of 
 mind, as most gamblers who see themselves " stony 
 broke " will probably admit. 
 
 " Oh, as you please," she returned carelessly. 
 
 " Thanks. Will you resume your seat ? Luck is 
 with us. There are now two vacant chairs side by side." 
 
 Violetta shrugged her shoulders and without another 
 word sat herself down in one seat and her companion 
 took the other. 
 
 " Which colour is it to be ? " he asked. 
 
 " I don't know. Wait. I never look at the table 
 while the mood's on me. It hasn't come yet." 
 
 She closed her eyes. Five minutes went over. The 
 man appeared to take as little interest in the table's 
 fluctuations as she did. His eyes were fixed on her face. 
 The resting of her eyelids on the smooth cheek gave a 
 sort of madonna aspect to her face. His eyes seemed 
 to lose their coldness as he gazed upon her. 
 
 Suddenly she spoke,
 
 20 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " Red," he heard her whisper. Her eyes remained 
 closed. 
 
 Swiftly he threw a couple of notes on the table. Red 
 won. 
 
 " Marvellous," said he, as he gathered up his winnings. 
 " Try again. I'm done with my system for to-night at 
 any rate." 
 
 Once more a long pause. " Black " was her next 
 pronouncement. Black it was. The third time she 
 was wrong. The fourth and fifth attempts were 
 correct. 
 
 " That's enough. I'm satisfied. We won't tempt 
 fortune any further. Your winnings amount to 500." 
 
 " My winnings ? " 
 
 "Certainly. I've lost nothing. I tall belongs to you." 
 
 " Indeed it doesn't. I shall be quite contented with 
 ten per cent." 
 
 " You're very business-like. It is not often that 
 women reckon by percentages. But this isn't a business 
 transaction. I look upon it as a challenge, and you've 
 won. You're entitled to the stakes." 
 
 He tried to force a bundle of notes upon her, but she 
 rejected it. 
 
 " If you won a race through a tip you wouldn't 
 hand over all your gains to the tipster." 
 
 " What do you know about racing tips and tipsters ? " 
 he enquired, with a note of surprise in his voice. 
 
 " As much as I care to." 
 
 He would have liked to study her face to read in it 
 her character but her eyes were wide open and directed 
 upon him, and he could not be so rude as to stare as her. 
 
 " You're a woman worth knowing. For that reason 
 you must take this 500. I insist upon it." 
 
 " Insist as much as you like. Business is business." 
 
 He was impressed by her decisive, emphatic manner. 
 He took her at her word. 
 
 " Very well. Let us come to terms. Ten per cent. 
 is absurd. Nothing less than half will be fair. Even
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 21 
 
 so, I'm 250 richer than I was half an hour ago. How 
 does that strike you ? " 
 
 Violetta reflected for a few moments. The sum 
 was not a penny more than she could do with. After 
 all, she had earned it. And as he reminded her, he 
 also had done very well. She consented to the 
 arrangement. 
 
 "Do we part in this formal fashion ? " he asked, 
 as she rose after accepting the notes. 
 
 " Yes. There's nothing more to be said." 
 
 " Probably, so far as you're concerned. But what 
 about me ? " 
 
 " I cannot help you. We've finished our business I 
 take it." 
 
 He made no reply and they walked silently to the 
 vestibule. He continued by her side to the terrace. 
 A slight mist was rising and the evergreens and the 
 feathery palms looked fairylike, unreal. 
 
 " How do you work your mascotte magic, I mean ? 
 How does it come to you ? " 
 
 " I don't know. After sitting quietly I have an 
 impulse an inspiration, I suppose some people would 
 call it. That's all I can tell you." 
 
 " Strange. Would your inspiration be of any use 
 in other things the running at a horse race, for 
 instance ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Why not ? The result's the same in both luck." 
 
 " Is it ? A dozen things may affect a horse and 
 decide whether he wins or loses. It's only one thing 
 with the ball in rouge et noir or roulette. I can't think 
 of a horse as an inanimate block of wood or ivory. 
 Besides, I must look at a horse race I can't help it 
 and looking is fatal to my power if I have a power." 
 
 Violetta had suddenly changed her tone and manner. 
 Both had lost their coldness. Her natural vivacity 
 had asserted itself as it always did when she talked 
 about horses.
 
 22 A UEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " I see. So you're fond of racing." 
 
 " I love it." 
 
 " And horses too. I've seen you riding at Mentone. 
 You're a splendid horsewoman." 
 
 " Am I ? You're a good judge, I suppose ? " 
 
 " I'm called one, anyhow." 
 
 Insensibly they fell into horsey talk. It was the one 
 subject that Violetta loved to discuss, but only with 
 those who understood. Soon reminiscences of famous 
 races at Epsom, Newmarket, Doncaster, in the years 
 prior to Captain Vaughan's sudden flight to Paris crept 
 in, and they discovered their recollections coincided. 
 
 " Do you remember Plymouth Rock's running in 
 the St. Leger four years ago ? " suddenly asked 
 Violetta. 
 
 The man's face darkened and his straight brows 
 contracted. 
 
 " Yes, too well." 
 
 " A jockey named Loram was up. He pulled that 
 race." 
 
 " Did he ? How do you know ? " 
 
 " It doesn't matter how. I only say he did." 
 
 " I won't contradict you because I can't. Had 
 Loram not run on the cross Plymouth Rock would 
 have won hands down. No one can speak with better 
 authority than I for I took odds on the horse." 
 
 " You did ? What's your name ? " 
 
 " I'll tell you if you tell me yours." 
 
 " No. I don't wish to." 
 
 " Right ; then I'll keep mine to myself." 
 
 Violetta laughed lightly. She really did not care 
 who he was She had only asked the question out of 
 idle curiousity. 
 
 " I'd better say good-night," she went on after a 
 pause. " Thank you for employing me and for your 
 liberal commission." 
 
 " Is that all you have to say ? " 
 
 " Every word."
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 23 
 
 She held out her hand, and he could not choose but 
 take it. 
 
 " I've a favour to ask. Will you dine with me to- 
 morrow ? " 
 
 " I shall be miles away by then." 
 
 " Are you leaving ? " 
 
 " Yes. What's the use of staying here any longer ? " 
 
 " Not much. I thought perhaps to-morrow you'd 
 like to repeat your success of to-night." 
 
 " No. I've had enough." 
 
 " Where are you going ? London ? " 
 
 " I haven't made up my mind. May be and may be 
 not." 
 
 " If you do I hope to see something of you. We 
 might meet at Epsom or Ascot." 
 
 " We might. Ever so many things might happen. 
 I don't pretend to see into the future." 
 
 " I believe you can do much more that way than you 
 imagine." 
 
 " That's possible, too." 
 
 He was silent for a moment and fingered his chin 
 reflectively. 
 
 " You would'nt care to go into partnership ? " said 
 he at last. 
 
 " With you ? " 
 
 " That was in my mind." 
 
 " In what way ? " 
 
 " Purely business." 
 
 " You are still on the turf then ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 Violetta's eyes went over his hard face. 
 
 " No," said she with decision. " Good-night." 
 
 He did not attempt to persuade her to remain with 
 him, and for this she was grateful. She was anxious 
 to return to her rooms and give Fifine her final 
 instructions. 
 
 So they parted, and he watched her glide away until 
 her graceful figure was lost in the black shadows.
 
 24 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 " Vr. VAUGHAN OR HER GHOST, AND HANDSOMER 
 
 THAN EVER " 
 
 VIOLETTA knew her Paris. She did not bother about 
 the expensive hotels, but made straight for the Hotel 
 Provence, an old-world establishment south of the 
 Seine and not far from the Boulevard St. Michel and 
 its cafe's, dear to the hearts of Bohemian students. 
 
 She had stayed at the hotel more than once and was 
 practically an old friend of M. Octave Lange, the fat 
 good-humoured bald-headed proprietor. He welcomed 
 her with effusion. She had on several occasions proved 
 highly useful to him in acting as an interpreter when 
 English or American tourists found their way to the 
 Hotel Provence. Whether through disinclination or 
 incapacity Octave Lange had not been able to acquire 
 more than one or two English phrases, and these were 
 so tinged with a Gallic pronunciation as to be almost 
 unintelligible. So he had found the services of " Mees 
 Vown " exceedingly valuable, and he showed his 
 gratitude by the smallness of his charges. 
 
 By good luck her old room on the ground floor was 
 free. It opened into a quaint stone-paved courtyard 
 flanked by high ivy covered walls on two sides, and 
 with a solitary plane tree which did its best to flourish 
 under adverse circumstances in the centre. In the 
 days of Louis Quatorze the Hotel Provence had been a 
 stately mansion, and some remains of its former grandeur 
 yet remained in the size of the rooms, the queer way 
 in which they opened one into the other, and in the 
 carvings and decorations of the walls and ceilings. 
 
 " Would Mademoiselle be having her piano ? " was 
 M. Lange's enquiry the day after she had taken up
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 25 
 
 her quarters. " Mees Vown's " playing, he had dis- 
 covered, added to the attractions of his establishment. 
 He liked to hear some of his pensionats ask who was the 
 brilliant pianist whose music was looked forward to 
 with so much pleasure. 
 
 Mademoiselle considered. So much depended upon 
 how long she intended to stay. For the moment she 
 had formulated no plans. But she would want some 
 kind of occupation on those evenings when she was 
 not in the mood for theatre going, and she decided 
 to hire an instrument week by week. M. Lange beamed 
 with satisfaction. 
 
 The life at the Hotel Provence was placid and un- 
 eventful, but not monotonous. The homely table 
 d'hote was grateful to her after the feverish excitement 
 of the Monte Carlo banquets. The visitors amused 
 her some of them those from the provinces especialty, 
 with their quaint patois, the mixture of caution and 
 simplicity of their ideas, and the women's antiquated 
 dresses. Everything was such a contrast to what she 
 had been accustomed to during the winter at the 
 Riviera. 
 
 The weeks flew by and she had not made up her mind 
 what should be her next step. One thing was certain. 
 She could not live for ever on what she had brought 
 from Monte Carlo. Still her expenses were now so 
 small, it would last a considerable time. 
 
 Sir John Norman was constantly in her thoughts, but 
 was it worth while troubling about him ? She liked 
 the easy-going baronet and she knew perfectly well 
 that if he were free she had but to give him the slightest 
 encouragement and he would ask her to be his wife. 
 His sister would probably not like it, but would that 
 matter very much ? Violetta could not see that it 
 would. The point was, could she tie herself up to a 
 man she only liked ? 
 
 There was, she owned, one strong inducement for a 
 marriage with Sir John Norman the splendid stabling
 
 26 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 equipment at Normanhurst, its paddocks and training 
 grounds. Sir John had bred hunters ; why shouldn't 
 he turn his attention to breeding racers ? Horses were 
 quite a passion with her, and she cared for no sport as 
 she cared for horse racing. It was her ambition to 
 be a successful owner, and above all to be the proud 
 possessor of the Blue Riband of the turf ! 
 
 Sir John might be cajoled into the idea. Violetta 
 believed she could cajole him into anything. Ella 
 would most likely be the obstacle. She was dreamy, 
 sentimental, fond of poring over poetry of the extreme 
 modern school, of sketching, and went mad over artists. 
 Ella always belonged to a " cult " of some kind 
 of what kind Violetta never cared to enquire, and it 
 might have been theosophy, spiritualism, the abolition 
 of marriage as the only way of reforming the iniquitous 
 laws of divorce, or the worship of Omar Khayam for 
 anything she knew. At all events, Ella took not the 
 slightest interest in horses and hated races. 
 
 But supposing Sir John was not to be talked into 
 racing ? If this should prove to be the case the card 
 house of her ambition would be shattered. She certainly 
 did not care for the baronet sufficiently to marry him 
 for his own sake. Their temperaments were wholly 
 antagonistic. Violetta was restless and fiery, Sir John 
 was placid and rather inclined to laze. His brain was 
 sluggish compared with hers. Besides and perhaps 
 this secretly weighed with her more than anything 
 she was not drawn towards matrimony. She revelled 
 in her independence. 
 
 After a time she tired of Paris and she tired of her 
 irresolution. Whatever might come of it, she would 
 renew her acquaintance with Sir John Norman. At 
 the worst he might serve as a stepping stone into the 
 world of well-to-do and maybe aristocratic turf 
 enthusiasts. Never would she drift back into the 
 ranks of her father's shady associates. Before her 
 determination vanished, she sat down and wrote :
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 27 
 
 " Dearest Ella, I wonder if you've forgotten your 
 old friend ? So much happens in this little world in 
 a short time that it wouldn't surprise me if much more 
 important things than our old friendship had driven 
 me from your mind. Have you found the man who 
 loves you ? Are you married? I've often wondered. 
 As for me, I'm much the same a rolling stone that's 
 gathered very little moss. Since my poor father died 
 he was thrown when riding in a steeple chase I've 
 had all kinds of posts and the only result is a little 
 more experience of the world, which I don't know that 
 I particularly wanted. Anyhow, I feel strongly tempted 
 to try my luck in London, and I should love dearly 
 to see you again. Do drop me a line here to say that 
 I may hope to do so. I shall be in Paris for quite a 
 fortnight and indeed would wait there for your reply. 
 Otherwise your letter might go wandering about and 
 never be forwarded to me in London, where at present 
 I've no address. How is Sir John ? I often think 
 of the pleasant time I had at Normanhurst. With 
 love, I am, yours sincerely, your old chum, Violetta 
 Vaughan." 
 
 She read the letter over twice and was satisfied. 
 She meant it simply as a diplomatic feeler. She 
 purposely omitted mentioning the paragraph which 
 told her of Lady Norman's death. Not on any account 
 would she have Ella suspect her plans, and less still 
 let her know what she had been doing during the last 
 five years. She posted the letter, addressing it to 
 Normanhurst, and for the next few days was in a fever 
 of impatience for an answer. 
 
 The fortnight she had given herself went over, but 
 no letter came from Ella. 
 
 " What does it mean ? " Violetta asked herself 
 angrily. " I suppose she intends to drop me. If she 
 does she'd have a good excuse. I ought to have written 
 at once on the death of poor old dad. But I thought 
 she might have looked upon it as an attempt to sponge
 
 28 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 upon her. She knew perfectly well I was always more 
 or less hard up." 
 
 She wondered if the letter would reach her friend. 
 Ella might be travelling abroad with her brother. 
 Naturally, the death of Lady Norman would make a 
 difference, if not so much to her, certainly to Sir John. 
 
 " Perhaps she'll consider it her duty to watch over 
 him and protect him from designing women. He'll 
 need it. He's one of the men who are lost without 
 a wife, and drawing a blank in his first plunge in the 
 marriage sweepstakes wouldn't prevent him trying 
 again. I won't bother any more about him. There'll 
 be Kempton Park at Easter, and I ought to be in London. 
 With 200 one might do something. I see nothing else 
 in view." 
 
 But the next day changed her opinion. She received 
 Ella Norman's answer, Her face grew grave as she 
 read : 
 
 " Dearest Violctta, It was a delightful surprise 
 to see your handwriting again. As you say, much 
 has happened since we last met, and so much that was, 
 and still is, miserable, that I can hardly bear to write 
 about it. The death of poor Alice in the doctor's house 
 where she has dragged out her miserable existence for 
 so long can scarcely be considered a misfortune. 
 Indeed, it was a happy release, but it came too late to 
 be of any relief to poor John. Of course, while she 
 was alive she was a source of constant anxiety to him, 
 but for some time previous to her death he could not 
 have thought much about her. He had too many 
 other worries on his mind. And yet in a way Alice 
 was at the bottom of the trouble. Soon after you went 
 I noticed a change in him. He moped horribly. He 
 seemed to crave for excitement, and this was so strange, 
 for he always appeared to be happy with his horses 
 and dogs and pottering about with his farming stock. 
 Then he suddenly changed again. He had alternate 
 fits of melancholy and buoyancy, and I don't know
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 29 
 
 which troubled me most. The explanation came 
 eventually. He had taken to betting, and lost over 
 and over again, and was heavily in debt. I can't go 
 into particulars now, but I shall be only too thankful 
 to pour my troubles into your sympathetic ears. When 
 are you coming to England ? Yours very sincerely, 
 Ella." 
 
 P.S. Your letter was forwarded here from Norman- 
 hurst, or of course I should have replied long ago. 
 About the man I don't know." 
 
 " That means she is engaged or about to be," thought 
 Violetta. 
 
 She tossed the letter on the table impatiently. Ella's 
 engagement was of no importance, but Sir John Norman 
 with his recklessness, his ill luck, was a different matter. 
 She was sorry for him, and angry with herself for not 
 accepting five years before his pressing invitation to 
 stay. 
 
 " I daresay things would have turned out differently," 
 she told herself. " But it wouldn't have done while 
 his wife was alive. I believe I hate scandal as much 
 as he does at any rate, I've come to hate it." 
 
 And this was true. Her experience at Monte Carlo 
 in this direction was a bitter one. She knew very well 
 she was hated by all the neurotic lady gamesters, old, 
 young, and middle-aged, and that she was a perennial 
 subject of venomous gossip. Her luck for others had 
 raised up hosts of enemies. It would not have mattered 
 so much had the luck been for the benefit of her own 
 pocket. 
 
 " It's no consolation, I suppose, that I've nothing to 
 reproach myself with. I went into the " mascotte " 
 business with my eyes open, so I can't be surprised 
 at the lies told about me." 
 
 Violetta shrugged her shoulders and her straight brows 
 wrinkled slightly as was their wont when her mind 
 was disturbed. 
 
 She took the letter up again. Ella had written from
 
 30 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 the Willows, Thameside, up the river, not far from 
 Bray. 
 
 " Shall I go ? Not much good now that the poor 
 man has anticipated my plans. I wonder if he ran 
 his own horses ? " 
 
 She could not decide offhand what to do, and she 
 went out to collect her thoughts. She wandered along 
 the southern bank of the Seine gazing absently at 
 the bookstalls, at the gaily painted little steamers, 
 at the patient anglers increasing in numbers as she 
 drew near Charenton, waiting for fish that never 
 came. 
 
 When she returned to the Hotel Provence she looked 
 in at the proprietor's little room. 
 
 " My stay here, Monsieur Lange, has come to an 
 end. I want to leave to-morrow. I'm going to 
 London." 
 
 Monsieur was desolated and almost pitying. He was 
 a born Parisian and rooted to his native city. He 
 could not conceive existence out of Paris, and in 
 England, of all places in the world. 
 
 But he raised no difficulty and the next morning 
 Violetta received a neatly written bill of her expenses. 
 The amount was moderate. Violetta paid it with 
 many thanks, tipped the garcon, the femme de chambre 
 and the chef liberally, and departed from the hotel the 
 best of friends with everybody. 
 
 Arrived at Charing Cross, she had her luggage de- 
 posited at the cloak room while she engaged a room 
 at one of the private hotels abounding in the streets 
 on the south side of the Strand. She wandered into 
 Trafalgar Square. Despite its reputation as being the 
 finest site in Europe, it was just as bare and ugly as 
 she remembered it and the National Gallery as squat 
 and contemptible as ever. London here had not changed 
 a bit. She turned eastwards. The Strand seemed 
 strangely narrow after the Paris Boulevards, the people 
 were apparently wholly intent on business and without
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 31 
 
 the air of abandon and interest in the surroundings 
 which marks a continental crowd. A feeling of solitude 
 and friendlessness crept over her. She was beginning 
 to wish she had not left Paris. 
 
 Then she roused herself and in a business-like manner 
 went through the tiresome task of selecting rooms, 
 impressing managers and manageresses with the con- 
 viction that she was a young lady who knew her way 
 about and was not to be imposed upon. Finally, she 
 settled upon her hotel and had her luggage conveyed 
 thither. Then after a rest and sleep (she had crossed 
 from Dieppe by the night boat and was dead tired), 
 she made a careful toilette, wrote to Ella to say she 
 would run down to The Willows very shortly, and 
 sallied forth to lunch. 
 
 She went as if by instinct to a restaurant hardly a 
 stone's throw from Piccadilly Circus. It was her 
 father's favourite haunt when he was in funds. She 
 glanced round. She might have lunched there yesterday. 
 Nothing had altered. The same crimson velvet couches 
 and marble-topped tables. The same little bar 
 at the end, presided over by the same impassive, 
 quietly-dressed lady, the same waiters. She recognised 
 at least half a dozen. The men and women lunching 
 might have been the same. The type of patrons was 
 monotonous in its characteristics. The only innovation 
 was the number of women with cigarettes in their lips. 
 Five years ago such luxuries were not visible until 
 late in the evening. 
 
 She sat down on a velvet couch and took up the menu. 
 The same dishes. She was almost disappointed, but 
 why should she have been ? It was all good of its 
 kind. She made her selection talking to the waiter 
 in French, at which his face lightened and he at once 
 interested himself in her choice. She leisurely went 
 through the meal and fell in at once with the new fashion 
 of a cigarette after it. She had not taken very many 
 whiffs before a man a couple of tables away who
 
 32 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 had, unseen by her, been occasionally glancing at her, 
 rose, strode towards her table and sat down opposite. 
 
 He was a tall, loosely-built fellow, with an aggressive 
 swagger of the shoulders, yet with an air which seemed 
 to suggest that he was not unused to good society. 
 In his youth he had probably been good-looking, but 
 all that had survived at middle age was a certain devil- 
 may-care expression in his deepset dark eyes. His 
 square, resolute jaw indicated pugnacity and stubborn- 
 ness ; his lips were puffy and the lower one moist and 
 of a disagreeable redness. 
 
 He learned his elbows upon the table and pushed 
 forward his head, his pugnacious chin more prominent 
 than ever. His bold, insolent eyes were fixed on her 
 face a few seconds before he spoke. 
 
 " Vi Vaughan or her ghost, and, by Jove, handsomer 
 than ever." His strident voice was as unpleasant as 
 his face. Violetta sat perfectly unmoved though 
 inwardly she felt as though she could have struck him. 
 
 "I'm sorry I can't say the same of you, Gentleman 
 George I presume you still answer to that name." 
 
 " It's good enough I guess," he retorted, with an 
 ugly glint in his eyes. " Anyhow, I feel honoured 
 to think you haven't forgotten it or myself either." 
 
 " One doesn't easily bury disagreeable experiences." 
 
 " The evil that men do, etcetera, etcetera. What ? 
 Now my experience of you was of the most agreeable 
 kind, though I'm bound to say we were always at 
 loggerheads and we never once had the pleasure of 
 kissing away our differences." 
 
 Her answer was to call the waiter. 
 
 " My bill, please," said she, and coldly ignored the 
 man opposite. 
 
 " You're not ratty, are you, Violetta ? I didn't 
 mean anything." 
 
 " It's a matter of indifference to me what you meant. 
 You'd better understand straight away, Mr. Godfree, 
 that you and I are strangers. I shall take any attempt
 
 33 
 
 to talk to me or to claim me as an acquaintance of yours 
 as an insult." 
 
 He laughed, but the laugh was not one of merriment. 
 It was obviously forced. 
 
 " You can regard my talk in any way you choose, 
 but you can't get out of the plain fact that you are 
 an acquaintance and that you know it. I'm not likely 
 to forget the Beak Street Club's charming cantineer." 
 
 Violetta still ignored him. She was holding the 
 little slip of paper handed to her by the waiter and was 
 studying the contents. Then she opened her wrist bag, 
 drew out her purse and paid the bill, not forgetting a 
 liberal douceur. The waiter smilingly thanked her 
 in the politest French and she rose. 
 
 " You're a fool to fall out with me," snarled the man 
 in a grating voice. " I could have put you on to ever 
 so many good things. Dead certs at thundering long 
 odds." 
 
 " I daresay. I'll do without your tips and yourself 
 as well." 
 
 Mr. George Godfrey's eyes followed her to the door. 
 He was biting his nails and his distended lips were 
 uglier than ever. 
 
 " She's changed. If ever there was a woman of 
 breeding Violetta looks like one now." 
 
 George Godfree was no mean judge. Though he 
 was now low down in the world and had been submerged 
 some years there was a time when he mixed with the 
 best. He had aristocratic connections but he had long 
 since tired their patience and exhausted their doles, 
 and he was looked upon as an irreclaimable " bad 
 lot." 
 
 He had always been " bitten " to use his own word, 
 by Violetta. To him she was as a dash of tarragon 
 vinegar is to a salad. She gave a new spice to life 
 certainly to his life. He had missed her, and to see 
 her again so unexpectedly and so transformed had 
 revived his old feelings. Violetta's studied contempt
 
 34 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 had angered him intensely, but its chief effect was to 
 fan the fire of his passion. 
 
 " Where the deuce has she got her style from ? " 
 he muttered. " She hadn't it in the old days when 
 she acted as the Hebe of that queer show of her father's. 
 Rum devil, old Vaughan. Not a bad sort. Always right 
 for a meal on the nod provided you hadn't rubbed him 
 the wrong way, and then he was as hard as nails. Guess 
 Violetta takes after him there. I wonder what her 
 game here is and what she's been doing ? Anyhow, she 
 must have tumbled on her feet. There wasn't a better 
 dressed woman in the room, much less one who knows 
 how to wear her toggery so well." 
 
 This judgment was well founded. Violetta had 
 brought with her a good stock of Paris fashions and she 
 had acquired the air of distinction and individuality 
 which makes the French woman noticeable, no matter 
 where she may be. Among English, Violetta was 
 always taken to be French, but the French themselves 
 rarely were deceived. Still, if not the rose, she was 
 extremety near it. 
 
 Godfree swaggered back to his friends and accepted 
 their chaff with equanimity. His evasive replies con- 
 veyed the impression that he knew Violetta well, but 
 he would not give her away. Among the group of raffish 
 horsey men were two or three who had been members 
 of Captain Vaughan's Club, but they had not recognised 
 her, and he did not intend that they should. 
 
 " Your swell chicken didn't seem to make good with 
 you," remarked one man in a Yankee twang that one 
 could cut with a knife. 
 
 " That was because she saw I came from your table, 
 old bean." 
 
 A laugh at the American's expense followed Godfree 's 
 retort, and the talk drifted into the prospects of the 
 flat racing season. 
 
 Before he left the cafe Godfree took the opportunity 
 to question the waiter who had served Violetta as to
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 35 
 
 what he knew about the lady but he could get no 
 information. Nevertheless, he made up his mind he 
 would " ferret " her out. 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 ON THE A.P. COURSE 
 
 IT took Violetta quite a day to get over the unlucky 
 encounter at the Cafe" Nice. " Gentleman George " 
 was about the last man she wanted to see. She disliked 
 the man in the old days, she positively hated him now. 
 She remembered him as one of the most objectionable 
 of the crowd known as " The Boys." His manner was 
 presumptuous and he had a tendency to patronise her 
 which always roused her wrath. She had snubbed 
 him as she had never snubbed the rest who were vulgar 
 and were rude because they were ignorant. But George 
 Godfree knew better or ought to have known better. 
 
 She was intensely angry with herself that she had 
 yielded to an impulse to go to the Caf6 Nice just because 
 she had known it. She might just as well have selected 
 another. 
 
 The episode of Gentleman George had upset her more 
 than she would have thought possible. She wanted to 
 forget her father's club, its habituees and all that 
 belonged to it, yet her very first day in London had 
 brought it all back as though it were but yesterday ! 
 
 But had Violetta thought for a moment she must have 
 realised that her recollections of the turf would be revived 
 if she were to carry out the plans which were floating 
 in her mind. Though fortunes had been lost at horse 
 racing, fortunes had, on the other hand, been won. 
 It was the cool, level-headed bookmaker who was most 
 successful, She did not suppose she would ever earn
 
 36 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 the title of a lady " leviathan " of the turf, but there 
 was something very fascinating in the idea. Anyhow, 
 whatever might be the outcome of her efforts, capital 
 must be the starting point. She had some 200. It 
 might be increased if she were lucky. 
 
 That was the crux of the whole matter luck. 
 Judgment, experience, could do much, but after all 
 the winning of a race depended upon a score of little 
 things impossible to be foreseen. " Dead certs " 
 had times out of number proved illusory. " Dark 
 horses " had always had a chance in the gamble, and 
 anybody who went in for betting must be prepared 
 to take a risk. Calculations and " systems " were not 
 to be depended upon. Even skilful " hedging " some- 
 times broke down. 
 
 Violetta had seen so much of the vicissitudes of 
 racing that she had come to regard luck as the most 
 potent factor. And this opinion had been backed 
 up by her experience at Monte Carlo and by her ventures 
 when she was the " cantineer " of her father's sporting 
 club. But she had never had a free hand. Her father 
 disliked her backing horses and as for making a " book " 
 he would not hear of it. 
 
 The question of luck closely concerned her. She 
 often wondered whether there was a mystic influence 
 behind which determined its goodness or badness as 
 applied to the person affected. Her strange power 
 at Monte Carlo puzzled her as much as it impressed 
 those who witnessed it. If she could be so successful 
 as mascotte at rouge et noir, why not at racing ? She 
 did not think it would work out the same way, for the 
 reason she had given the man who had halved his 
 winnings with her, but as she had never tested the thing 
 who could say ? 
 
 " It's all nonsense," she at last exclaimed impatiently. 
 " I'd better come down from the clouds and fix myself 
 on something practical." 
 
 Violetta had arrived in London on the Saturday
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 37 
 
 after Good Friday, too late to think about the Kempton 
 Park Spring meeting, which on Easter Monday opened 
 the racing season. The next fixture was Alexandra 
 Park, four days later. She was rather inclined towards 
 the minor races. There was less chance of horses being 
 scratched. 
 
 As she sauntered from Piccadilly Circus to Arundel 
 Street, where her hotel was, she purchased all the sporting 
 papers she was able to procure, and even invested a 
 few shillings in the " special " tips sent out by the 
 " prophets." It wasn't that she believed in the prophets 
 but she liked to compare the various selections. Then 
 she retired to her bedroom and studied the list of entries 
 and the predictions. 
 
 " I hardly know one of the horses," she muttered. 
 " I haven't followed English racing since poor dad's 
 death. I guess I'll have to go to school again." 
 
 But the names of some of the jockeys and of the 
 owners were familiar, and so also were the pedigrees 
 of a few of the horses, and she turned to the latest 
 bettings. Prince Edward, the favourite, was evidently 
 looked upon as a safe winner, the odds, 3 to 2, were 
 so short. The majority of the prophets gave " Prince 
 Edward," and she found that he had advanced rapidly 
 in favour, as in a trial with a stable companion, supposed 
 to be a faster animal, he had beaten the latter by a 
 couple of lengths. But at 3 to 2, he was not worth 
 backing. 
 
 Nor was the second favourite " Marcus " a much better 
 spec. Of the outsiders she rather fancied " Daughter 
 of the Mist " chiefly because the filly was one of the 
 progeny of the famous " Stockwell." But only one 
 of the papers mentioned her. She was quite ignored 
 by all the professional tipsters. Another horse, " Bel- 
 phegor," was spoken well of if he could be depended 
 upon, but he had the reputation of being most uncertain 
 in his temper. The odds on " Daughter of the Mist " 
 were quoted at 30 to I, and " Belphegor " at 10 to I.
 
 38 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 Violetta determined not to make a leap in the dark 
 but to wait until she was on the course and had the 
 opportunity of seeing the animals, and she consumed 
 her soul in patience until the day of the fixture. 
 
 A thunderstorm an unusual thing at Easter time 
 broke over London the morning of the race day. This, 
 with the clayey, heavy soil of the A. P. course would 
 make the running a little difficult. It was on the cards 
 that a slow horse, if a stayer, would have a good chance. 
 
 " I was right in waiting till I saw the horses," thought 
 Violetta. 
 
 She mingled with the crowd that hurried from the 
 train, and plodded through the yellow mud churned 
 up to the consistency of thick cream to the entrance. 
 Outside was the usual gathering of peripatetic vendors 
 of refreshments. Small " bookies," itinerant tipsters, 
 touts and what not gathered round the stewed eel stalls 
 and swallowed the steaming dainty with great gusto. 
 The fondness of horsey men for stewed eels has yet to 
 be explained. There is always a big demand outside 
 Aldridges on the occasion of a horse sale, and the con- 
 sumers are just as avid for the delicacy as they are on a 
 race day. Maybe it gives a greater relish to the beer 
 which follows when it can be got. Jellied eels, Violetta 
 noticed, on this particular morning were slow of sale, 
 and cold fried fish an absolute drug in the market. 
 Possibly the keen air of the Northern Heights following 
 the storm made the hot fish stew more comforting. 
 
 Violetta paid the entrance money and passed through 
 the turnstile. The mud of the road leading to the course 
 was worse than that of the public thoroughfares. It 
 was glutinous in some parts, slushy in others, but no 
 one cared. The string of motor cars was never ending, 
 and did their best to distribute the yellow sticky mix- 
 ture over the foot passengers. In these days of short 
 skirts the women were much better off than in Victorian 
 times, and Violetta trudged along not much the worse 
 save for the mud on her boots and gaiters.
 
 39 
 
 A man came up to her selling racing cards. She 
 bought one and glanced at the vendor. He was a red- 
 nosed, watery-eyed, loose lipped individual of middle 
 age, shabbily dressed but with something about his 
 manner which did not suggest the ordinary turf 
 hanger-on. 
 
 " Isn't your name Alf Bartlett ? It was " Doctor " 
 some four years ago, if I remember rightly," said 
 Violetta. 
 
 " Alf Bartlett it is. Not much of the ' Doctor ' 
 about me left, I reckon. I seem to know you." He 
 stared at her fixedly. " By the lord ! Miss Vaughan ! " 
 he exclaimed. " And you're not too proud to speak 
 to me ? " 
 
 " Why should I be ? " 
 
 " Because I'm right down on the bedrock. You can 
 see it for yourself." 
 
 Violetta remembered Alf Bartlett as one of the smart- 
 est of the club members. He had been educated for a 
 doctor, had walked the hospitals, gained his diploma, 
 but had never practised. Coming into some money 
 had been his ruin. He had taken to betting, and when 
 he had run through his little fortune, he took to drinking. 
 
 " I'm sorry," said she. " Why don't you try to pull 
 yourself round ? You're not old, you know." 
 
 " Too old to alter. May I hope that things have gone 
 well with you ? You look as if they had." 
 
 " As well as I deserve, I suppose. Anyhow, well 
 enough for this if it's any good to you." 
 
 She had drawn out a ten shilling note and pressed 
 it upon him. 
 
 " I don't like taking it," said he brokenly. " I guess 
 it'll go where the rest went." 
 
 " I hope you won't be such a fool. Better put it on 
 a horse than down your throat." 
 
 The man's dull bleary eyes flashed momentarily. 
 
 " You're right, Miss Vaughan. You used to be a 
 witch at spotting a winner. Do you know anything ? "
 
 40 A QUEEN OF THE f>ADDOCK 
 
 " No. I'm an outsider just for the moment. I rather 
 fancy ' Daughter of the Mist ' for the Welter Handicap, 
 but I've nothing on." 
 
 " None of the tipsters give her as any class." 
 
 " Oh, it's only a sporting chance. At 30 to i there's 
 not much one need risk. The running '11 be heavy after 
 the rain. That's against her." 
 
 " So it is, but the course is short, only five furlongs. 
 If she gets in front at the start and can hold on to the 
 last, she may cover the short course before the heavy 
 horses catch her. I wouldn't say what might happen 
 if she had to go the long course a mile and one hundred 
 and fifty yards. What makes you fancy her ? " 
 
 " She's one of the ' Stockwell ' blood, that's all." 
 
 " H'm. I thought perhaps it might have been be- 
 cause she's in a way your namesake." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Well, we used to call you the ' Cantineer ' in the 
 old Beak Street Club days, didn't we ? It so happens 
 that ' Daughter of the Mist ' was first known as ' Can- 
 tineer.' She won a selling race and the man who bought 
 her changed her name." 
 
 " Who owned her originally ? " 
 
 " Sir John Norman, but she was run by a nominee, 
 George Godfree. Maybe you remember him at the 
 club." 
 
 What a small world it suddenly seemed ! Fate was 
 apparently destined to run her up against Godfree. 
 She wondered if this proximity would end here. But 
 what about Sir John Norman ? Was he also destined 
 to play a part in her life ? 
 
 " Yes," said she, "I recollect Mr. Godfree very well. 
 What had he to do with Sir John Norman ? " 
 
 " They were close pals for a time. Sir John didn't 
 get any good out of Gentleman George, you may bet 
 your life. He ought to have bought in Cantineer, 
 but I'm told Godfree talked him out of it. Had his 
 own game to play, I'll swear."
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCtf 41 
 
 " Who bought ' Cantineer ' ? " 
 
 " A chap who knows a good horse when he sees one 
 Dan Westoby. Of course, I don't know for certain, 
 but it's my impression Westoby made it all right with 
 Godfree for persuding Sir John to sell the filly." 
 
 " How is it she's at such long odds to-day ? " 
 
 " The deuce only knows. It's got whispered about 
 there's something wrong about her. All I can say is I 
 managed to get sight of her at a trial about three weeks 
 ago and she seemed to me as right as rain. It's a funny 
 thing as she should have gone back in the betting ever 
 since." 
 
 Violetta turned the matter over in her mind. Alt" 
 Bartlett had no object in deceiving her and she knew 
 that he had the whole gamut of racing dodges at his 
 finger ends. 
 
 " Look here, doctor. I'll have a. look at ' Daughter 
 of the Mist,' but in any case I shall put a bit on her. I 
 believe I'm a little superstitious. There might be some- 
 thing lucky in her name ' Cantineer.' ' 
 
 " Then hanged if I don't follow your lead, Miss 
 Vaughan. It's your ten bob, you know. You were 
 always lucky for other people. I'd better get on before 
 I alter my mind. If I lose the lot I shan't be worse off 
 than I was. And if I win well, with fifteen quid in 
 my pocket I shall feel like a millionaire. Same time, if 
 I was to follow my own judgment, I'd have a bit on 
 ' Belphegor ' in spite of his beast of a temper. Anyhow, 
 thank you heartily." 
 
 " I hope it'll come off, and if it does, don't make a fool 
 of yourself." 
 
 The man put out a somewhat grimy hand, and Vio- 
 letta, blinding herself to its dirt, grasped it. Then the 
 " Doctor " rushed off to invest his ten shillings and 
 Violetta continued on her way towards the enclosure. 
 
 The crowd outside the ropes was not particularly 
 attractive. Not many had come for the love of sport 
 or of horses. All that was in their minds was money
 
 42 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 making. A good many were of the same type, with 
 narrow, pallid faces, long noses, eyes devoid of expression 
 save for a certain restless expectancy, wide thin-lipped 
 mouths. In an odd way they were strangely suggestive 
 of horses. Some were itinerant bookies, and in these 
 cases their eyes were never for a moment still. They 
 came, most of them armed with portable stands on which 
 they placed placards with the names of the horses and 
 their respective odds. These men bawled one against 
 the other, but beyond this there did not seem any out- 
 ward show of rivalry. 
 
 The " prophets " were of a different class. They set 
 out to be absolutely certain of everything they asserted, 
 but with a cunning dash of cautiousness thrown in which 
 made their assurance more impressive. The main point, 
 however, was to get together as large a crowd as possible 
 to listen to their patter. One of these gentlemen started 
 by spreading his overcoat on the grass. Then he pro- 
 duced with a great flourish a bundle of what purported 
 to be five pound notes. After this came a score of 
 golden sovereigns at least they looked like sovereigns 
 and the money was solemnly counted and deposited 
 on the overcoat. 
 
 It wasn't quite clear what this performance had to 
 do with prophecy, but somehow it conveyed the notion 
 that the prophet was no hard-up catchpenny adven- 
 turer, but was a man of substance, able to pay for 
 " correct " information and therefore likely to be " in 
 the know." The sight of the money and especially the 
 jingle of the sovereigns, whetted curiosity, and never 
 failed to make the hurrying public pause and listen. 
 
 The aim of the prophet was to appear perfectly fair 
 and impartial. He hadn't a word to say against the 
 favourite. " Prince Edward " was a good horse, there 
 wasn't a doubt about it, but and here the prophet 
 became very serious in tone and manner " you've got 
 to be vurry, vurry careful. I don't say ' Prince Ed- 
 ward ' won't win, but there is a horse that'll give him
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 43 
 
 some trouble. / know what the stable thinks about 
 him and / know what he's done in his trial spins. You 
 do as you like, but if you want a pretty safe spec, at 
 
 long odds, you'll " At this point the patter became 
 
 rather hazy, the only definite declaration being that you 
 had but to put down half-a-crown and you would get a 
 slip giving you the name of this dark and mysterious 
 prodigy. 
 
 Violetta was highly interested in the man's gab. She 
 4cnew quite well that anyone with sufficient assurance 
 could pose as a " prophet." Stable " information " 
 was as likely to be wrong as right. Whatever a horse 
 might accomplish beforehand, no one could say what he 
 would do on the day of the race. To her it was amazing 
 how many of the crowd threw down their half-crowns 
 and walked away hugging the little piece of paper to 
 plank their money on the " prophet's " tip. 
 
 She did not waste time listening to any of the other 
 tipsters, and hurried towards the enclosure, paid the 
 admission money, and mingled among the groups of 
 " bookies " and backers. She wondered if among the 
 former there were any of the old " crowd." 
 
 She felt a slight tap on her shoulder. She turned. A 
 stout farmer-like man, with a smile broadening his 
 cheery face was beaming at her. 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 " DAUGHTER OF THE MIST " 
 
 " BLEST if the sight o' you, lass, bean't good for sore 
 eyes. Leastways if I haven't made a mistake, an' I 
 don't think I have it bean't often as I forget a face, 
 'specially if it be a woman's, though, to be sure, you 
 gals have a way o' growing up out o' knowledge. I'll
 
 44 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 bet any money as your name's Vaughan little Violetta 
 Vaughan." 
 
 " Yes, and I think I recollect you. Mr. Burrup, 
 isn't it ? " 
 
 " Aye, Ben Burrup's my name an' Yorkshire my 
 dwelling place. Why, it must be a matter o' four years 
 since you was ladling out whiskies an' sodas. I see the 
 death of your poor dad in the Sporting Gazette, an' it give 
 me a bit of a shock. We were great pals, him an' me." 
 
 " Yes, I remember. Poor father. I missed him 
 awfully." 
 
 " I'll bet you did. I hope as he left you a bit o' 
 brass." 
 
 " Only his debts. The horse he was riding was so 
 knocked about the poor thing had to be shot." 
 
 " That was a bit o' bad luck. If it's not a rude ques- 
 tion, what are you doing here ? Not by yourself, eh ? " 
 
 Violetta understood the roguish look in Mr. Burrup's 
 twinkling eyes. She laughed. 
 
 " Yes, I am. Why not ? " 
 
 " Then all I've got to say is I don't understand what 
 the Lunnon chaps be about. At Leeds you'd have a 
 whole string of 'em after you." 
 
 " Then I'm glad I'm not at Leeds. I don't want 
 them, thank you. But, Mr. Burrup, tell me are you 
 still in the pencilling line ? " 
 
 " What on earth should I be doing at the A.P. spring 
 meeting if I wasn't ? " 
 
 " I'm glad, because I've got a fancy I'd like to back." 
 
 The bookmaker's smile fled. 
 
 " Don't you, Miss Violetta. I wouldn't-like to know 
 I was walking away with your money in my pocket." 
 
 " What nonsense. How do you know you will ? 
 Anyhow, if I lose it'll only be the fortune of the race- 
 course. What's ' Daughter of the Mist ' ? " 
 
 " Went a bit back this morning 35 to I." 
 
 " I wonder why. I'm told the filly ran well last 
 year."
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 45 
 
 Mr. Burrup gave a short laugh. 
 
 " It bean't no business o' mine to talk about the 
 'osses. I hears all and says nothing. It's only the odds 
 that int'rest me. But you're an old friend well, she's 
 run by one o' the smartest o' the smart, Dan Westoby, 
 and he's got a tricky crowd in his pay. But mum's the 
 word. D'ye twig ? " 
 
 Violetta nodded. 
 
 " Same time, mind ye, the going'll be prettj' heavy 
 over this sticky, slippery turf. That's all agen her." 
 
 " Well, I want to see her, and if she shapes well I'll 
 risk 50 at 35 to i. Will you take me ? " 
 
 " That'll mean 1,750 if I lose. Pretty heavy, my 
 dear," and Ben Burrup gave a long whistle. 
 
 " Well, will any of your friends do it ? " 
 
 " I'll take you up to 10. Maybe Bill Jackson's 
 good for another tenner. Shall I book your ten ? " 
 
 " Wait till I've seen the filly. I suppose the horses 
 will come out before the race. You know the ropes 
 pretty well, I guess. Take me to a seat in the Grand 
 Stand where there's a fair view of the course." 
 
 " Right y'are. We shall see some of my pals there." 
 
 They walked to the entrance of the Grand Stand, 
 Burrup nodding to and cracking jokes with his many 
 acquaintances as he went. He secured Violetta an 
 excellent seat. She surveyed the course through her 
 race glasses and noted its bend about half-way round, 
 and the long straight home. It seemed to her that all 
 things being equal it was a case of skilful jockeying. 
 
 " I'll sound some of the boys about ' Daughter of the 
 Mist,' " said Burrup. " Meanwhile you make yourself 
 happy. The horses'll be out in two ticks." 
 
 All traces of the morning's storm were gone. The 
 sky was of an intense blue, with here and there a scudding 
 fleecy cloud. The April sun was shining brilliantly 
 as only an English April sun can. The air was exhilar- 
 ating and under its influence, combined with the ex- 
 citement of the coming contest and the strong personal
 
 46 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 interest she felt in it, brought a clear rich crimson to 
 her cheeks. 
 
 Violetta was about to put the glasses down when she 
 chanced to swerve, and the movement brought the 
 other end of the Grand Stand into view. She saw a 
 man with his glasses turned in her direction. She knew 
 him at once. It was George Godfree. The woman by 
 his side, tall, fair and somewhat overdressed, was talking 
 to him animatedly. He did not appear to be listening 
 to her. 
 
 Violetta could not say why the sight of Godfree was 
 disquieting, as it was the most natural thing in the world 
 that he should be there, but it was so. However, she 
 dismissed the man from her mind, as at that moment 
 the horses entered the course for a preliminary canter 
 and to show themselves. Violetta at once picked out 
 " Daughter of the Mist." Her jockey's colours were 
 blue and white. She was a beautiful creature a dark 
 chestnut perfectly sjmimetrical, yet strong and wiry. 
 She moved as if on wires working harmoniously. There 
 wasn't a sign of anything wrong with her. 
 
 Of the other horses, " Prince Edward," the favourite, 
 won Violetta's approval, but he was a trifle too slightly 
 built, so she thought, to be a stayer. Another horse 
 took her fancy. He was a bright chestnut with a white 
 streak down his nose. Hardly handsome, he was big, 
 bony, and enormously strong. The question was did 
 his speed equal his strength ? His jockey's colours were 
 scarlet and gold. She looked at the card scarlet and 
 gold belonged to " Belphegor," the horse of uncertain 
 temper, mentioned by Alf Bartlett. 
 
 The horses came out in a cluster and then separated 
 with the exception of three. One of the latter was 
 " Belphegor." The three kept close together for about 
 twenty yards and then something happened to annoy 
 the bright chestnut and his haunches suddenly went 
 up, and he lashed out one of his hind legs in a vicious 
 kick which luckily touched nothing. The jockey prob-
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 47 
 
 ably was prepared for the horse's attempt at buck jump- 
 ing, as he stuck to his saddle gallantly. He brought 
 the whip down sharply on the animal's hindquarters, 
 and presently " Belphegor " condescended to use his 
 four legs normally. The knowing ones among the 
 spectators shook their heads. " Belphegor " was evi- 
 dently inclined to be in one of his tantrums. 
 
 " Not much chance of your getting your money on 
 ' Daughter of the Mist/ " Violetta heard Burrup whisper 
 behind her. " The chaps fight shy of her. The best 
 I could do was to divide your ten pounds between me 
 and Bill Jackson." 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Burrup, how horrid. She's lovely, don't 
 you think so ? " 
 
 " It's not the filly, it's the crowd that's running her 
 we're afraid of. We know something of Dan Westoby, 
 George Godfree, and the rest, and we don't intend to be 
 rooked. I don't suppose half a dozen of the public have 
 backed her. You see, after winning the selling race and 
 coming into Westoby 's hands, she did nothing but lose 
 everything she was entered for. It was thought that 
 Westoby was horribly unlucky, because in each case 
 the filly nearly pulled it off." 
 
 ' Who was the jockey ? " 
 
 ' Ted Loram." 
 
 ' And is he up to-day ? " 
 
 ' Of course he is." 
 
 ' Oh." 
 
 ' Eh ? What do you know about him ? " 
 
 ' Nothing much, excepting that I believe he's a 
 bad egg." 
 
 " That wouldn't surprise me. It be mighty queer 
 that the backing should only be among the Westoby 
 gang. If Loram doesn't win they don't stand to lose 
 much. But I fancy they're fly and are cocksure they've 
 got a good thing. Jackson tells me that ten minutes 
 ago Godfree wanted to put a bit more on, but Bill wasn't 
 taking any and George went off with a face as black as
 
 48 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 my hat. Hallo there's the bell. 'Xcuse me, miss." 
 
 And the bookmaker hurried off leaving Violetta with 
 much to ponder over. Amid her disturbing thoughts 
 one thing was tolerably clear. The Westoby gang, as 
 Burrup called it, had clearly engineered the business, 
 with the assistance of Loram, and to-day the coup was 
 to be brought off. She did not feel at all comfortable 
 at benefiting by a fraud. 
 
 " All the same I don't see that I'm to blame if ' Daugh- 
 ter of the Mist' shows her true form and beats the rest," 
 she thought. 
 
 The annoying part was that in a way she was asso- 
 ciated with George Godfree, and she hoped devoutly 
 it would not get to his ears that she had backed the filly. 
 But she had not time to consider further the position. 
 The horses were being marshalled for the start and were 
 coming into line. 
 
 Considerable restiveness was caused by Belphegor's 
 bad conduct. Violetta put down the big chestnut as an 
 irreclaimable beast. He was clearly bent on mischief, 
 and it was only after several false starts that the official 
 got them away in something like equality. 
 
 At first it was a scramble. " Belphegor " was showing 
 temper, and the jockeys round about him were doing 
 their best to keep away from the brute. But the 
 creature took it into his head to " hug" his horses, and 
 his rider could not get him clear despite whip and spur. 
 It was unlucky that the favourite was his nearest neigh- 
 bour, for his jockey found himself considerably ham- 
 pered. About a quarter of the course had been covered 
 and then one of the horses found an opening, shook itself 
 free, and in a flash was a length in front. The jockey's 
 colours were blue and white. 
 
 People stared and looked at their cards. Blue and 
 white stood opposite No. 6, and the name of the horse 
 was " Daughter of the Mist." No one looked pleased. 
 Quite the reverse. She was run in the name of Mr. Jones, 
 about whom nothing was known. As for the filly her-
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 49 
 
 self, had anybody troubled to look up her record for 
 the past year it would not have been found sufficiently 
 encouraging to warrant one venturing a shilling upon her 
 chances. No wonder she had been left severely alone. 
 
 Violetta's colour fled and returned. She was breath- 
 less with excess of emotion. The hand holding the 
 race-glass to her eves quivered. The excitement of the 
 gaming table was nothing to this. Rouge et noir and 
 roulette were lifeless and sordid. One's thoughts in 
 watching the spinning ball were sordid. There was no 
 struggle of flesh and blood. To watch a number of 
 high-bred sensitive animals straining every nerve and 
 muscle in rivalry was a different matter altogether. 
 
 The filly was doing splendidly. She was being kept 
 close to the rails and was quite half a dozen lengths ahead. 
 Unless she was overhauled she would be able to sweep 
 round the bend one of the features of the A. P. course 
 without the slightest chance of losing her advantageous 
 position. 
 
 " Oh you dear oh you darling ! " murmured Violetta. 
 
 The words had hardly escaped her lips than some- 
 thing totally unexpected happened, and a roar burst 
 from the crowd. A jockey in scarlet and gold was 
 sprawling on the ground. Belphegor had thrown his 
 rider. The latter was apparently unhurt. In less than 
 a second he was on his feet, and had dashed to his horse 
 which with strange perversity was standing stock still, 
 seemingly surveying his work. 
 
 The jockey sprang into the saddle, and " Belphegor " 
 seized with a new mood, no sooner felt the weight on 
 his back, than he plunged forward and raced after the 
 other horses at an amazing speed. The jockey had 
 the sense to leave him alone and probably this was what 
 the horse wanted. Shouts were heard all over the 
 course as stride by stride he gained upon the striving 
 horses in front, and about halfway round the bend he 
 was in front and close to the rails. But " Daughter of 
 the Mist " was still half q. dozen lengths ahead, and
 
 50 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 apparently the heavy ground had not yet affected her. 
 But when the two emerged into the straight run home, 
 it was seen that " Belphegor " was only behind by a 
 length, and was moving with tremendous power and 
 freshness. The odds on him had dropped to 6 to I, and 
 many who had backed the favourite tried to " hedge," 
 for " Prince Edward " was hopelessly beaten. In the 
 short space of a quarter of a minute everything changed 
 for " Daughter of the Mist " was visibly tiring, and 
 " Belphegor " was getting nearer at every stride and 
 was as strong as ever. 
 
 Violetta could hardly control her agitation. Money 
 had little to do with it, for if " Belphegor " won, her 
 actual loss out of pocket would be small, but the fever 
 of speculation had seized her, and to be defeated would 
 be galling. As the horses neared the post, " Belphegor," 
 with his muzzle on a level with the filly's haunches, 
 Violetta closed her eyes. There was not more than 
 twenty yards to run, and it was purely a question 
 whether " Daughter of the Mist " would last. Violetta 
 could not look. All the blood in her body seemed to be 
 rushing to her brain. 
 
 Then a tremendous cheering was heard and a man 
 near her ejaculated " Great Scott,- did you ever see 
 anything like the way that horse ' Belphegor ' forged 
 ahead ? Another half a dozen yards and he'd have 
 romped in." 
 
 So " Daughter of the Mist " had won, but Violetta 
 could not trust herself to believe it until she saw 
 " No. 6 " hoisted on the board. Her friend Burrup 
 presently came to her looking a little rueful, but he 
 warmly congratulated her nevertheless. 
 
 " Are you going to follow your luck with the next 
 race, Miss Violetta ? I'm a bit afraid of you, you know ; 
 still, if you've another good thing up your sleeve, I'll 
 see what I can do." 
 
 " No. I've finished for to-day. It was all luck, 
 you see, and a very near thing. Who would have thought
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 51 
 
 it was possible ? I mean about that cantankerous 
 ' Belphegor.' I'd like to see him run again. He was 
 badly ridden. His jockey used the whip and lost his 
 temper in addition." 
 
 " You're right there, Miss Vanghan. By Jove, if 
 his mount had been someone who understood him, he'd 
 have chawed up the rest of the field. You should ha' 
 seen Westoby's face when his filly was losing ground 
 every yard. It was a sight, I can tell you. As long as 
 a fiddle. As for Godfree, danged if he didn't go green. 
 They must ha' netted a nice little pile. They won't 
 do the same trick again, I'll bet." 
 
 Then he and Violetta had a little talk about the 
 settlement of her bets with him and Jackson, and Vio- 
 letta went back to town alternately exalted and depressed. 
 She was worried about her strange piece of luck. Was 
 it really to be explained by the fact that she had Norman 
 in her mind when she backed the horse which had once 
 been Norman's ? She had rarely won when she only 
 thought of herself. But what was the use of trying to 
 penetrate the unknown ? 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 " I'VE No HORSES TO SHOW You Now " 
 
 Two days later Violetta was at Paddington on her way 
 to Maidenhead. She had written to Ella to say she was 
 coming and had a reply sufficiently cordial to warrant 
 her expecting a warm welcome. 
 
 However, she was now on her way to a different world 
 a world, which if it were placid and monotonous, was 
 at least refined, and her mercurial temperament revived 
 at the thought. And she was in addition really anxious 
 to hear the story of Sir John Norman's misfortunes. 
 
 She easily found her way to The Willows. It was
 
 52 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 a double-fronted house with a verandah and a wisteria 
 half covering the windows and reaching to the roof. It 
 had a spacious garden in front with stabling at the side. 
 Very cosy and comfortable, but suburban quite a 
 contrast to Normanhurst, the stately white stone mansion 
 built in the florid Italian style with its pilasters, its 
 Parthenon-like front, its long balconied windows, its 
 imposing projecting porch, its terrace and spacious 
 lawn and shrubberies. 
 
 A neatly dressed maid opened the door to Violetta 
 and ushered her into a pretty room with French windows 
 opening into a fairly large garden, at the end of which 
 was the river. Comfortable, like the rest of the house, 
 but again a complete contrast to the oak-panelled 
 morning room at Normanhurst. 
 
 She had not long to wait. Ella burst in upon her 
 with that hurried, almost rushing manner, which Vio- 
 letta remembered so well. 
 
 " My dear Vi, how glad I am to see you. How awfully 
 sweet of you to come ! " she cried in a high-pitched 
 voice. 
 
 Violetta found herself being kissed effusively, then 
 held at arms' length, and being kissed again. 
 
 Ella Norman had always been a gusher, and she 
 seemed to Violetta to be more gushing than ever. At 
 seventeen it could be put up with, but at twenty-two 
 it was slightly over-powering. In addition, she had a 
 way of swarming over one, which Violetta had always 
 found rather irritating. Just now it was particularly 
 so. She was half a head taller than her visitor, slim 
 and undulating, and her long arms, after being stretched 
 out after the fashion of the angel on the preposterous 
 Guards' Memorial in Waterloo Place, enfolded Violetta 
 in a kind of bear's hug. Despite this overwhelming 
 affection Violetta was quite conscious that her appear- 
 ance and her dress were being closely scrutinised. 
 
 Then the two looked at each other appraisingly, as 
 women do who have not seen each other for a long time.
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 53 
 
 Violetta knew by the faint shade of disappointment 
 which crept over Ella's face, that she expected to find 
 the wanderer had " gone off," and that the contrary 
 had happened. As for Ella, she had decidedly deterior- 
 ated. The dark half-circles beneath the eyes and the 
 pinched-in sallow cheeks, showed that she was inclined 
 to be neurotic. 
 
 Viloetta was sorry but not surprised. If only half 
 the misfortunes hinted at in Ella's letter had taken place, 
 the experience was enough to leave traces behind. But 
 she asked no questions, she knew the story would come. 
 Ella was not one to keep her woes to herself. 
 
 " Come and see your room, dear," was Ella's remark 
 after the look of inspection. " I want you to stay a 
 long, long time with me." 
 
 " Oh, but I've not come prepared to do that. I've 
 brought nothing with me." 
 
 " That doesn't matter. You can easily wire in- 
 structions to have your luggage sent on. Meanwhile, 
 with my help you can make shift. It isn't boating 
 weather yet, so you won't be asked to spoil that charm- 
 ing dress, as it certainly would be spoilt if John had the 
 handling of the punt. He hasn't got the hang of the 
 pole yet, and he splashes awfully." 
 
 It was characteristic of the baronet's sedateness and 
 incapacity that his sister always spoke of him as " John," 
 never as " Jack." 
 
 " He's on the river now," went on Ella, as they as- 
 cended the staircase. " I persuaded him to come here. 
 The doctor said he was thoroughly run down and wanted 
 a complete change and plenty of open air exercise. 
 Boating seemed to me to be the best antidote to that 
 detestable racing, so when the collapse came and 
 ruin was in sight, I took this furnished house and brought 
 him here. He was really incapable of thinking for him- 
 self. Oh, my dear Violetta, I've heaps to tell you. 
 It's a wonder I'm not dead with worry. What's going 
 to happen I haven't the least idea. Of course, our
 
 54 A QUEEN oF THE PADDOCK 
 
 affairs are in the hands of the lawyers, and you know 
 what snails they are." 
 
 Talking incessantly and buzzing about Violetta, 
 hindering rather than helping her to disrobe herself, 
 Ella showed sufficiently the state of her nerves by her 
 passing from one subject to another without the slightest 
 connecting link, and by her spasmodic " oh dear, oh 
 dear," which seemed to come from her more by force 
 of habit than from any emotional necessity. 
 
 At last they were seated quietly in the room with 
 the French windows. Ella ordered tea and plunged 
 without preface into a recital of her brother's disasters. 
 
 " It's all come about through races and betting. I 
 assure you I never suspected anything of the kind. Of 
 course, John was always fond of horses, but I thought 
 his taste never went beyond hunters, and those cost him 
 no end of money, Heaven knows one lump, or two, 
 dear ? No sugar ? Oh well, we can still afford that 
 luxury in spite of the price. What was I telling you ? " 
 
 " About Sir John's love of hunting." 
 
 " Oh yes. I used to be thankful that he had a hobby 
 as it kept his mind from dwelling on poor Alice. She, 
 I needn't say, was a constant drag upon him. He paid 
 the doctor who had charge of her 750 a year, and then 
 there were continual extras. I know he looked forward 
 to a life-long infliction, and perhaps had he anticipated 
 she was so soon to pass away, he might not have been 
 so foolish. It's a terrible thing that the marriage laws 
 are so stupid. He ought to have been able to free 
 himself I mean so far as the marriage tie was con- 
 cerned but there it was. He was helpless. You see 
 the hunting season only lasts a few months, and what 
 was he to do the rest of the year ? It never occurred to 
 me when he took to going to races that he had any 
 interest in anything beyond the animals." 
 
 " Did you really imagine that ? " asked Violetta 
 with a elevation of her dark eyebrows at the ends nearest 
 the nose, which always charmed the men.
 
 55 
 
 " Yes, why not ? I've always heard that racing was 
 supported because it improved the breed of horses." 
 
 " Rubbish. That's a part of our English self-decep- 
 tion. No one serioush' believes it. Stop betting and 
 you stop races. Not that I see any harm in betting." 
 
 " No harm ! Violetta, it's horrible. You don't know. 
 You don't understand." 
 
 Violetta was inclined to laugh, but she kept her 
 countenance. 
 
 " Haven't I told you it was betting which practically 
 ruined John ? At the same time, he mightn't have been 
 so foolish but for a friend of his a man who was with 
 him at Balliol. They hadn't seen each other for years 
 when unluckily they met accidentally at Newmarket. 
 I never could get much out of John how it was brought 
 about, but it's certain he came under the influence of 
 this man, who, though of good family, is, I'm sure, a 
 shocking blackguard. I saw him once, and once was 
 quite enough." 
 
 " What was his name ? " asked Violetta suddenly. 
 
 " George Godfree. I believe he's entitled to call 
 himself ' The Honourable,' and that's the only thing 
 about him that is honourable. He's connected with the 
 Fitzhaughton family. The Marquis of Fitzhaughton 
 was his uncle or brother-in-law. Some relation anyhow. 
 I never cared to enquire what, I hated the man too 
 much." 
 
 George Godfree ! Gentleman George ! For a moment 
 Violetta's heart sank. She felt almost terrified. It 
 was not that she was afraid of Godfree, but it was so 
 strange that the working of Fate should have thrown 
 Gentleman George in her way twice within forty-eight 
 hours. His connection with Norman's downfall was 
 certainly a serious matter. Soon she recovered her- 
 self sufficiently to ask : 
 
 " Did your brother run any horses ? " 
 
 " I don't know. He never told me he did, but, of 
 course, he may have done so. You see, I was mostly in
 
 56 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 town. I was very much occupied at the time with 
 various social movements. Christian Science was 
 greatly interesting me just then, and soon after I took 
 up the Religious Stage Society. Studying the old Mys- 
 tery Plays I found exceedingly absorbing, and really 
 I had no leisure for enquiring what John was doing. 
 Why should I ? There was no need at least, so I 
 thought. Of course, I knew nothing about his friend- 
 ship with Godfree nor about Godfree either." 
 
 Violetta hardly heard what Ella was saying. She 
 didn't care a fig for Christian Science or for Mystery 
 Plays. George Godfree was in her thoughts. She was 
 wondering with what gang he was in league. Gentry 
 of his kind never worked by themselves. Their schemes 
 for swindling the unwary required more than one hand. 
 Gentleman George, with his insinuating society tone 
 and manner when it was necessary to use them, and his 
 real knowledge of society ways, was invaluable as a 
 decoy, but he had not the brains to originate a modus 
 operandi or to carry one out. 
 
 Violetta was brought back to the subject by Ella 
 entering into a long and involved story how John had 
 got deeper and deeper into the mire and at last had to 
 sell Normanhurst. 
 
 " I don't exactly understand how it came about," 
 said she. " I never could grasp figures or law." 
 
 " I should like to know," said Violetta. 
 
 " Well, I daresay John could tell you if you care to 
 ask." 
 
 " But haven't you ? " 
 
 " Of course I have, but I couldn't make head or tail 
 of the affair. It seemed to me to be awfully compli- 
 cated. The only thing really definite was that when 
 all the debts were paid there remained enough to bring 
 in about 1,000 a year, and we both have to live upon 
 it." 
 
 " You may marry well. You hinted that you were 
 engaged," put in Violetta.
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 57 
 
 " Oh, well, nothing's settled. It can't be " she 
 
 broke off suddenly. 
 
 " There's John. Shall we go and meet him ? " she 
 exclaimed. 
 
 Violetta was only too glad. She found the con- 
 tinuous pouring out of sympathy to be a little trying. 
 The interruption was also acceptable for another reason. 
 Ella at any moment might dart off at a tangent and 
 enquire what she had been doing during the past four 
 years, and though Violetta was ready with a story she 
 was not at all anxious to tell it. The inventive tale 
 might break down under cross-examination. No doubt 
 at some time or another Ella would question her, but 
 the longer the ordeal was delayed the better. 
 
 The two passed into the garden. A head and shoulders 
 the first surmounted by a boating cap, the second 
 swathed in a muffler could be seen rising slowly above 
 the river bank. Soon the whole figure was visible 
 tall and slim, resembling Ella's conformation of body, 
 but not so willowy. 
 
 Recalling her castle in the air at Monte Carlo when 
 she first learned that Lady Norman was dead, Violetta 
 regarded the man crossing the lawn, his walk half slouch- 
 ing, half springy, with no little curiosity. She remem- 
 bered perfectly well how he looked at Normanhurst, 
 and she wondered whether ill luck had affected him. 
 Of course, her aerial castle had toppled over at 
 Ella's story, but the ruins had still some interest for 
 her. 
 
 Norman suddenly straightened himself and raised 
 his cap. Violetta thought he was better looking than 
 when she last saw him. His dark hair, which came 
 rather low down on his forehead, showed streaks of 
 grey, but his drooping moustache was unchanged. 
 His expression was as refined as ever, but seemed to show 
 more decision. His eyes, like Ella's, somewhat dreamy, 
 were in keeping with the reputation he had among his 
 friends of being a poet. Violetta had forgotten this
 
 58 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 side of his character, and it came back to her memory 
 with a sense of surprise. 
 
 " You must forgive me, Miss Vaughan, for not being 
 here to welcome you," said he. " Ella didn't appear 
 to know what time you were coming. Anyhow, I hope 
 she's looked after you properly." 
 
 " You needn't have any doubt on that score, Sir 
 John. I am quite at home already." 
 
 " There's not much to feel at home with. At any 
 rate, I've no horses now to show you," said he. 
 
 " I admire other things besides horses." 
 
 " I doubt if you'll find many here, and what there is 
 isn't mine." 
 
 " The river ? " 
 
 " I share that in common with others. Are you 
 fond of boating? " 
 
 " I know nothing about it." 
 
 " Then we'll go out to-morrow providing it's fine. 
 I'll give you a lesson if you like." 
 
 " Don't try punting," put in Ella. " It's all very 
 well in the summer when the trickling of cold water 
 down your arm isn't unpleasant ; but in this weather 
 ugh ! " 
 
 " I didn't say punting. We'll have the double sculler. 
 You may steer us, Ella, if you'll promise to keep your 
 thoughts fixed on the rudder lines. You're not to be 
 trusted, you know." 
 
 " You'd better wait until Violetta's luggage comes. 
 I'm not going to let her spoil her pretty frock. There's 
 no hurry, because I want Violetta to stay with us a long, 
 long time that is, if her plans will allow her." 
 
 " Yes yes. You must stay," urged Norman. 
 
 " You're very kind, but I don't intend to inflict 
 myself upon you," said Violetta, who did not fail to 
 note the sudden intensity of Sir John's gaze. " For a 
 few days I'm unsettled and if you don't mind putting 
 up with me while I'm looking out for a post of some 
 kind, I shall be very thankful."
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 59 
 
 " There's plenty of time for that. After I've made 
 myself decent, I'll join you two. Seven o'clock I 
 suppose, as usual, Ella ? " 
 
 His sister nodded, and the baronet raising his cap 
 slowly, sauntered towards the house. 
 
 " How do you think John looks ? " enquired Ella 
 anxiously. 
 
 " Better than I should have expected after what he's 
 gone through." 
 
 " Do you really think so ? I hope you're right. The 
 question that's worrying me is what is he going to do ? 
 At his age he ought to get rid of his purposeless life and 
 have some occupation." 
 
 " I suppose so, but one generally regards existence 
 according to one's temperament. Your brother always 
 seemed to be fairly busy one way or the other." 
 
 " Yes, but he had Normanhurst to look after. Now 
 that is gone he is like a derelict drifting anywhere, and 
 he may come into collision with something ugly and 
 awkward and be smashed entirely." 
 
 " What do you mean by that ? " 
 
 " My dear Violetta, don't you understand ? " cried 
 Ella, impatiently. " In his present mood he's liable 
 to be imposed upon by any designing woman who takes 
 the trouble to capture him." 
 
 " Such women are not usually ugly and awkward," 
 remarked Violetta drily. 
 
 " Well, we needn't go into details. I know very well 
 that during the last two years he must have mixed with 
 very queer society, both men and women, on the race- 
 course. He was bound to, 3^011 know or perhaps you 
 don't know." 
 
 " I'll take your word for it. But if occupation is to 
 be his protection against these dangers, why doesn't he 
 get some Government post ? " 
 
 " I doubt if he's fitted for Government work. He's 
 frightfully unbusinesslike. Of course, I'm aware a man 
 needn't be clever to do all that's wanted in the War Office
 
 60 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 or Foreign Office. If you turn up every morning like 
 a piece of clockwork, and are contented with filling up 
 forms and are not silly enough to suggest improvements 
 and are never in a hurry, I believe you get on all right. 
 Cleverness in a Government Department means the 
 knack of shifting responsibility on to another Depart- 
 ment, never knowing anything, holding your tongue, 
 and taking as many holidays as the chief will stand. 
 John's a good deal too conscientious for that sort of 
 thing ; besides, he's too fond of airing his own opinion, 
 and as he's generally wrong, you see what a mess he'd 
 get into. No, there's only one thing I can see for him." 
 
 " Ah, and what's that ? " 
 
 " Marriage, my dear. Marriage with a level-headed 
 rich woman who's above the frivolity of the tastes of 
 the present day and who takes life seriously." 
 
 " Oh yes. A bishop's widow, for instance. It's a 
 pity so few of them are about." 
 
 Ella looked up sharply. Was her dear friend pulling 
 her leg ? " 
 
 But Violetta's face never moved a muscle. 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 " I'VE SWORN TO BE MASTER OF NORMANHURST 
 ONCE MORE " 
 
 THEjiext day was wet. The river was out of the ques- 
 tion. There was quite sufficient dampness in the air 
 outside and inside the house to satisfy anj'body with 
 aquatic tastes. Violetta hadn't the slightest inclination 
 for boating exercise, and secretly was pleased she had 
 escaped. Reclining languorously on the cushions of a 
 punt preferably amber cushions, as the tint would 
 intensify the violet blue of the Irish eyes she had in-
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 6r 
 
 herited from her mother was a different matter. But 
 the picture demanded a scorching sun and the contrast 
 of the deep purple shadows of the overhanging trees 
 of Cliefden. Norman suggested billiards for the morn- 
 ing's amusement, and this was entirely to her fancy. 
 
 " Then you won't want me," put in Ella. 
 
 " Thanks no, old girl. The last time you marked for 
 me and Percival you were perpetually giving him my 
 score as well as his own. That's the drawback of an 
 engaged girl, Miss Vaughan. She can think of nobody 
 but the man she's taken under her wing." 
 
 " Don't be stupid, John," returned his sister, half 
 annoyed and half pleased. " As for marking for you, I'm 
 only too glad to escape. The click of the balls is apt 
 to get on my nerves, and the talk peculiar to the game 
 bores me to death. Why don't you billiard players 
 find something more original to say than ' hard lines,' 
 " just missed it, by Jove,' ' sorry old man,' when 3^ou 
 pocket the other one's white ball, and so on ? " 
 
 " You've left out the most important expression 
 ' dammit.' I admit there's not much variation, but I 
 suppose no other words fit the situations so well. How 
 are you going to amuse yourself this morning ? " 
 
 " I shall call on the Vicar. I'm awfully keen on 
 interesting him in our religious stage work. He's a bit 
 afraid of some of his congregation, but I'm in hopes of 
 talking him over. His mind at present's a perfect 
 blank on the subject. He knows nothing about the old 
 Mystery and Miracle Plays. We're going to revive one, 
 Violetta. You ought to be a member of our Society. 
 I believe you'd do one of the characters splendidly." 
 
 " Please don't ask me. I'm sure I should be a frightful 
 duffer." 
 
 " I'm not so sure. You used to take part in the plays 
 at school that we used to get up on prize-giving days." 
 
 " That's a different thing. I'm as ignorant as the 
 Vicar about religious plays." 
 
 " Oh, there's an excuse for you but not for him. He
 
 62 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 didn't even know until I told him that the drama really 
 had its origin in the church, and he looked quite 
 horrified." 
 
 " I should think so," said her brother. " He was 
 afraid you'd be asking him to lend you his church for 
 a theatrical show." 
 
 " I wish you'd take up the study, John. It would at 
 least give you an interesting subject to think about." 
 
 " I hate what you call ' interesting ' subjects. They're 
 only called interesting because you don't know what 
 else to say about them. But go and convert the Vicar 
 by all means." 
 
 Ella went off in something like a huff, and Norman, 
 turning to Violetta, said lightly : 
 
 " That's how my discussions with Ella always end. 
 When she finds herself cornered she takes to her heels. 
 She's sometimes impossible. If she were not for ever 
 formulating rules of conduct for my guidance, her im- 
 possibility wouldn't matter much, but unfortunately 
 I'm one of her hobbies. Do you know I had the greatest 
 difficulty in persuading her that a bililard room was 
 indispensable in any house she might select. How on 
 earth could I amuse myself indoors on a day like this 
 without one ? I suppose she saw this, as she eventually 
 gave in. There are two or three decent boating men 
 who live in the neighbourhood, and they now and again 
 drop in. You play ? " 
 
 " Oh, a little, but after what you've told me I should 
 be ashamed to show my awkwardness before an expert." 
 
 " I'm very far from being that. Occasionally I play 
 a decent game, at other times I'm simply out of it. 
 It all depends upon the mood I'm in, I suppose." 
 
 " I hope you're in good form this morning." 
 
 " I ought to be." 
 
 He smiled at her and his eyes twinkled. That look 
 on his face was new to Violetta. She could not remem- 
 ber anything like it when she was staying at Norman- 
 hurst. He struck her then as remote, unfriended,
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 63 
 
 melancholy, slow, especially the two last. Animation 
 certainly improved him. Perhaps the cloud of his 
 matrimonial trouble was the cause of his subdued aspect 
 in the old days. Or had she misread his character ? 
 Whatever it was she was disposed to be more interested 
 in him than she had anticipated. 
 
 " Of course you ought. I want to pick up a few 
 hints." 
 
 " I'll do my best. One thing's in my favour I 
 shan't have any bets on." 
 
 " Do you bet on the game ? " 
 
 " Generally. It puts a little spice into the play, 
 though I must confess it often spoils mine. Directly 
 I have the slightest responsibility I begin to feel nervous. 
 It's a beastly stupid weakness, but I've never been able 
 to conquer it. In fact " 
 
 He stopped abruptly. Violetta looked at him en- 
 quiringly, but he said no more. 
 
 The billiard room was built out from the house, and 
 the housekeeper the only one of the old Normanhurst 
 servants who had been retained knowing her master's 
 tastes, had had a fire lighted. The blaze was a sufficient 
 antidote to the drabness and damp of the outside, and 
 the room was really inviting with its crimson walls 
 adorned with sporting prints depicting byegone 
 champions of the racecourse. 
 
 Norman's eyes followed Violetta's as they glanced 
 at the pictures. Horses appealed to her irresistibly. 
 
 " I'd half a mind to have these things removed when 
 I took the place," said he, half apologetiaclly. 
 
 " Why ? " 
 
 " They gave my conscience a twinge. But I've got 
 used to them now. I can see they interest you, so I'm 
 glad I let them remain." 
 
 " Anything to do with horses I like." 
 
 She walked slowly round the room, reading the in- 
 scriptions recording the victories of " Voltigeur," " The 
 Flying Dutchman," " Blink Bonny," " Donovan,"
 
 64 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " Eclipse," " Pretty Polly," " Ormonde," and other 
 dead and gone celebrities, while Norman got out the 
 balls and spotted the red. He gave her the choice of the 
 white balls. She chose the plain, and she opened with 
 the usual miss in baulk. 
 
 " You know something," said he, laughingly. " Ella, 
 when she deigns to play, which isn't often, can never 
 manage the safety stroke. She goes for the red in- 
 variably and nearly always misses it and lets me in." 
 
 His reply should, of course, have been another miss 
 in baulk, but he went for the red and left her an easy 
 cannon. She guessed that he made the stroke out of 
 politeness, and she purposely mis-cued, and her ball 
 rolled into a pocket without hitting either the red or 
 the white. 
 
 " Better luck next time," was Norman's comment. 
 
 The red was over the middle pocket and he could not 
 very well avoid scoring without obviously betraying 
 his desire to see her win. The game went on. Do 
 what he would, Norman always found himself a little 
 ahead. Violetta made no break of any account, but 
 what puzzled her antagonist was that when she went 
 for a particularly difficult stroke she always brought it 
 off. On the other hand, she missed some ridiculously 
 easy ones. The game ended in Norman's favour in 
 spite of his intention to lose. 
 
 " I don't understand your play," said he. " You 
 made some amazing shots. I never thought you'd go 
 for them. But you had bad luck. The game ought to 
 have been yours anyway." 
 
 " I suppose so. You did your best to help me, you 
 know." 
 
 He flushed slightly. His little ruse to please her had 
 failed. The tone of her voice as well as her words 
 told him that. 
 
 " I confess it. The plain truth is I underrated your 
 skill and benefited by what you call your bad luck. I 
 wanted you to win, but I don/t believe you tried."
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 65 
 
 " That's my impression about you, Sir John unless 
 you were in one of your moods." 
 
 " Honestly, I played up as though I was in form. 
 But come now, did either of us go straight ? You've 
 seen what I can't do. I saw lots of chances you'd have 
 gone for but I funked them. What do you say shall 
 we try again and do our level best ? " 
 
 " If you like, so long as you don't hate me if I beat 
 you." 
 
 " Hate you, Violetta by the way, it used to be 
 Violetta at Normanhurst." 
 
 " I don't remember." 
 
 But she did quite well. 
 
 " Well, it must be Violetta once more. No. I won't 
 hate you whatever you do I couldn't. Now I warn 
 you, I'm going to play as I never played before. I've 
 a horrible feeling that you ought to give me twenty in a 
 hundred." 
 
 " Nonsense. Do you always have nervous fears you 
 won't succeed when you attempt anything ? " asked 
 Violetta a little scornfully. 
 
 " Very often, I own." 
 
 " It's a great mistake. Haven't you heard the old 
 foxhunter's advice when about to jump a fence ? Throw 
 your heart over first, he said, and your horse will follow. 
 It's true." 
 
 " By Jove, that's a fact. Then we start level. I 
 break, I suppose, according to the rules." 
 
 Violetta, nodding, chalked her cue. 
 
 Norman gave the customary safety miss and Violetta 
 going for the red accomplished a difficult cannon. The 
 positions that followed were easy, and so far from 
 fumbling and mis-cueing as in the first game, she kept 
 the balls well together and left off with a start of 
 twenty-five and with a double baulk for her op- 
 ponent. 
 
 " You take my breath away. See what you've 
 left me,"
 
 66 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " Not much, I admit. Are you going in for bold- 
 ness ? There's a possible cannon on." 
 
 " I daresay, but it's not possible for me. My choice 
 lies between safety and a fluke. I'll try the latter just 
 to show you I haven't forgotten what the huntsman 
 said." 
 
 He struck the ball recklessly. The cannon was not 
 achieved, but unexpectedly he went in off the red. 
 The latter was in baulk and Violetta's ball tucked under 
 the cushion. Naturally, he left the white alone and 
 played at the red. He missed it, and his own ball 
 remained in baulk. 
 
 The stroke in front of Violetta was enormously 
 difficult. Her ball was at the top end of the table and 
 almost angled. She could hardly expect to do more 
 than go for one or the other ball and not attempt to 
 score. 
 
 " You'll have to trust to your luck this time, Violetta," 
 Norman explained. 
 
 " Indeed I won't. I'm going to pot the red and maybe 
 my own ball too. At least, that's what I shall try 
 for. They're nearly in a direct line from where I am." 
 
 Nonnan held his breath while he watched her. 
 Violetta's statuesque pose while measuring the distance 
 with her eye and estimating the exact amount of force 
 necessary, seemed to Norman to personify the very 
 poetry of billiards. 
 
 Violetta was wearing the dress in which she arrived, 
 her everyday wardrobe not having yet come to hand. 
 Her corsage was in the fashion favoured by pretty 
 women to whom nature has generously given full 
 curves. It was cut low at the neck and back, the sleeves 
 were very short and there was a studied absence of 
 trimmings in the way of frills, lace and whatnot. 
 Obviously the costume was very trying to those not 
 qualified to wear it. Violetta would have taken first 
 prize in a competition in this style of dress. 
 
 Her arms were beautifully shaped, as Norman could
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 67 
 
 not help seeing when she had to hold the cue at an 
 angle of nearly sixty degrees in order to strike the ball 
 at the exact spot. The position of the body and the 
 elevated right arm slackened the front of the bodice, 
 and for an instant the symmetrical lines of the bust 
 were revealed. Her eyes were fixed steadily on the 
 object ball and the brows slightly drawn together. 
 For a couple of seconds she stood motionless, and then 
 in a flash the statue came to life. 
 
 It was a moment of concentrated energy. Force 
 was not so much wanted as a restraint of force. The 
 exact pace had to be given to the ball and no more. 
 It rolled along as if conscious of the skilful hands that 
 had guided it. It clicked the red ball gently and sent 
 it very slowly into the pocket and followed behind 
 as if to make assurance doubly sure. 
 
 " Great Scott ! " ejaculated Norman. " Who on 
 earth taught you to do that ? John Roberts himself 
 couldn't beat it." 
 
 " My father was a very fine billiard player. I learned 
 from him pretty well all I know." 
 
 " Well, but you must have practised an awful lot. 
 You can't become a player of your rank in five min- 
 utes." 
 
 " I suppose I was an apt pupil," laughed Violetta. 
 
 She did not think it necessary to add that she had 
 many spare hours at the club, and that she often devoted 
 them to billiards. She became so expert that she had 
 no hesitation in opposing the best players among the 
 members. As more than one were little better than 
 sharpers and up to every trick of the game, it is more 
 than probable she learned as much from them as from 
 her father. 
 
 The game proceeded. The feat just described was 
 the only one out of the common that she indulged in, 
 and she did not trouble to do more than run up a break 
 out of easy shots. Of course, she won, but she let 
 him down easy, and ran out the victor by ten points.
 
 68 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 Norman took his defeat very good-humouredly and 
 was warm in his praise. 
 
 " That ten points doesn't represent the real difference 
 between us. You could give me twenty-five thirty 
 in a hundred and still beat me to a frazzle. You're a 
 witch at the game. I only know one man among 
 amateurs, I mean who could meet you on level 
 ground." 
 
 " Yes ? Does he come here ? " 
 
 " No, and I wouldn't have him. We were great 
 chums at Oxford, and he was a decent chap, I always 
 thought. But since then well, he's turned out a 
 blackguard. I don't think I'd care to come across 
 him now. There might be ructions." 
 
 John Norman's face darkened and, turning abruptly 
 from Violetta, he walked to the fire and stood looking 
 at the blazing coals, his back turned towards his com- 
 panion. 
 
 Had he chosen to glance at Violetta he would have 
 seen that she was as much disturbed as he himself was. 
 It had crossed her mind with a feeling of certainty that 
 the man he referred to was Goorge Godfree. She knew 
 his method of play quite well and could just hold her 
 own with him. 
 
 Norman turned. His face had resumed its usual 
 composure. 
 
 " Shall we play the conqueror ? You to give me 
 thirty points ? " 
 
 " No. We've each won a game. Let's remain on 
 terms of equality." 
 
 " As you please. What about a cigarette ? I'll 
 bet that you smoke. You couldn't possibly have 
 found out all you know about billiards without." 
 
 " How long will Ella be ? " she asked hesitatingly. 
 
 " What ? Are you among the crowd that Ella 
 rules with a rod of iron ? " 
 
 " Not quite that. I know her views on the matter, 
 and I don't want to hurt her feelings."
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 69 
 
 " Ella's feelings ? I doubt whether she has any. 
 Real feeling, I mean. It's funny that whenever any 
 family matter is under discussion the first thing every- 
 body asks is what Ella will think what will she say? 
 She exercises some horrible spell. I find myself under 
 its influence constantly. Are you going to alter your 
 mind ? " and he held out his cigarette case, but Violetta 
 shook her head. 
 
 They were now seated on a Chesterfield in front of 
 the fire and Violetta made no reply to Norman's 
 reference to Ella. At the same time, she quite agreed 
 with him, for she remembered how at school Ella in 
 her semi-hysterical " swarming " way dominated the 
 rest. Violetta used to think that Ella would de- 
 velop into an extremely unpleasant tyrannical old 
 woman. 
 
 Norman went on smoking silently and staring at 
 the fire. Suddenly he broke out : 
 
 " I suppose she's told you all about my mad folly 
 racing, betting, the loss of Normanhurst, and all the 
 rest of my crazy doings ? " 
 
 " Yes, she referred in a way to your heavy losses. 
 It came upon me quite as a shock to hear that you had 
 to sell Normanhurst." 
 
 " It was a bit of a wrench, and it's left me stranded 
 just for the moment but " 
 
 " Then you have some plans for the future," put in 
 Violetta, to fill up a somewhat embarrassing pause. 
 
 " In a way. I've sworn to be master of Normanhurst 
 once more, but how the deuce I'm going to do it beats 
 me. You see, I'm left entirely to myself, and I'm 
 not much good by myself. Ella knows that as well 
 as I do, and she's perpetually worrying me with sugges- 
 tions, all more or less impracticable. What I want is 
 some clever shrewd person always at my elbow 
 one I can talk to one that'll do things and not dream 
 over them. / can do the dreaming done too much 
 of it already."
 
 70 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " You need some friend to protect you against your- 
 self ? Is that what you mean ? " 
 " Yes, you've hit it." 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 A CHAPTER FROM THE PAST 
 
 " YES, you've hit it," repeated Sir John. He had 
 turned his eyes from the fire to Violetta and he allowed 
 them to rest upon her. 
 
 Violetta's pose just then was highly attractive. She 
 was leaning slightly forward, her knees crossed and her 
 clasped hands embracing the upper one. The attitude 
 suggested energy, independence ; it seemed to indicate 
 that she was mistress of herself ; that she was not one 
 to yield to momentary impulses ; that she was alert 
 and ready of resource in cases of difficulty. The small 
 compact head, the full neck set on firmly rounded 
 shoulders confirmed this view of her character. Even 
 the shapely arms had character in them. 
 
 " You have Ella to talk to," said she. 
 
 " Bother Ella. She's always been the obstacle. 
 We never agree on a single point and aren't likely to. 
 Discussions with her always take an unpleasantly 
 personal tone, with any number of " I told you so's." 
 She can't understand the influence of circumstances on 
 character on one's destiny. Can you, Miss Vaughan 
 I beg your pardon Violetta I should have said ? " 
 
 " Yes. No one better. I've seen it verified ever so 
 many times." 
 
 " Then when I tell you I've been an ass you won't 
 believe it's entirely owing to myself ? " 
 
 " Of course I shan't. In cases of extreme foolishness 
 so much depends not only on circumstances but on
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 71 
 
 other people. You remember what a French philosopher 
 once said 'to know all is to forgive all.' ' 
 
 " By the lord, it is so. Look here, Violetta, I'm 
 wondering if I should bore you very much if I told you 
 something about what Ella calls my childish folly ? 
 I promise to boil the story down to shreds." 
 
 " If it willl give you any satisfaction, by all means 
 tell me- I'll be the most patient of listeners." 
 
 " Thanks. The business really began with my 
 marriage. I was only a youngster just come of age. 
 My father was old and feeble, and he'd got a yearning 
 to see a grandson in the world. He didn't want the 
 baronetcy to go to any male relation outside the direct 
 line. He mentioned the girl he wished me to many 
 the daughter of an old friend. I've always looked 
 upon what some people call the serious steps in life 
 as trifles, and it seemed to me it didn't matter who was 
 my wife so long as she was amiable and decent looking." 
 
 " You were easily pleased at twenty-one. Have 
 you become more fastidious since ? " asked Violetta 
 meditatively. 
 
 "Can't say. Perhaps. Certainly I don't think doll 
 faces appeal to me. Poor Alice had a doll face. Round 
 blue eyes, a small mouth, dimples when she laughed 
 and fair wavy hair. I suppose we were equally matched 
 as to brains. We both made a mistake. We were 
 too much alike in temperament, I mean. We ought 
 to have had our opposites. A son, to my father's huge 
 delight, was born, and two years after came a 
 catastrophe. The boy was drowned." 
 
 " Great Heaven. Why did you tell me ? " cried 
 Violetta, with genuine sympathy. " Ella has. never 
 mentioned this terrible thing." 
 
 " It isn't often raked up," said Norman huskily. 
 " I wanted to forget it, but I never have. I had too 
 many other misfortunes to remember it by. My wife 
 was stricken down by the news ; she had a child pre- 
 maturely stillborn she had a fever, lost her reason,
 
 72 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 and never regained it. My father also was so much 
 affected that he died within a year." 
 
 " What a frightful list of troubles. I think you're 
 wonderful, Sir John, to have maintained your cheer- 
 fulness. When I first saw you I should never have 
 suspected you kept so sad a story locked up within you." 
 
 " Well, some twelve years had passed over, and one 
 can't be always wearing one's heart on one's sleeve. 
 That's stupid ; besides, it's not my idea of bearing 
 troubles." 
 
 He relapsed into silence and seemed so absorbed 
 that Violetta hardly liked to disturb his reverie. At 
 last she said : 
 
 " I suppose you now and again visited your wife. 
 That must have been a painful ordeal." 
 
 " At first it was, but I soon got used to it, as she 
 never recognised me. Some days she was plunged 
 in melancholy. On others she did nothing but rave. 
 Her wild talk revealed something I never suspected. 
 Before I proposed to her she wanted to marry another 
 man, and it was his name that was always in her 
 thoughts. Subsequently, I discovered that she really 
 had been engaged to this man, and she jilted him to 
 marry me. He thought I was to blame, but I knew 
 nothing of her prior engagement. In fact, they kept 
 it a secret.'.' 
 
 " Have you ever met him ? " 
 
 " Yes since Lady Norman died." 
 
 " And are you on speaking terms ?" 
 
 Norman smiled grimly. 
 
 " Not exactly. I think he'd like to cut my throat. 
 He's got it into his head that my wife went out of her 
 mind through me. It's utterly false." 
 
 " You never injured him, then ? " 
 
 " Robbing a man of a girl he'd set his heart upon 
 would be an injury, wouldn't it ? " 
 
 " Not if you did it unknowingly." 
 
 " Well, he didn't take that view. But we needn't
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 73 
 
 bother about him further than to say that I believe 
 he's at the bottom of my ruin, though he was far too 
 cunning to show himself." 
 
 " Who were the men who were acting for him ? " 
 asked Violetta with sudden interest. 
 
 Norman looked at her slightly surprised. He was 
 not a man of quick perception, but he could not help 
 seeing that she did not put the question out of mere 
 curiosity. 
 
 " Oh, there was a gang. There always is, I believe, 
 in a racing swindle, and when they quarrel over the spoil 
 the truth oozes out, but the honest man otherwise 
 the victim, doesn't necessarily come into his own. 
 I was induced to buy some wretched platers and was 
 kidded into believing that they were " dark " horses, 
 certain to win and at long odds I should have netted 
 a fortune. I never won a race." 
 
 " But didn't you know someone of the gang outside 
 racing ? You wouldn't have believed downright 
 strangers, would you ? " 
 
 " Of course not, and that's where the sting comes in. 
 The man I mentioned some time ago the billiard 
 player my own friend let me down. I don't want 
 to talk about him. I've wiped the blackguard out 
 of my life. 
 
 Violetta dared not ask for this man's name. There 
 was n/ necessity. Ella had told her. She glanced at 
 Norman's face. She seemed to read in it more determina- 
 tion than she had hitherto credited him with possessing. 
 Maybe his inertness and indecision had their origin 
 in the fact that he had always taken things too easily 
 and had allowed others to think for him. He had 
 indeed hinted at this defect in his character. Maybe 
 if he were forced to fight for himself he would show he 
 could do it. 
 
 Then his features relaxed. The resolute look passed 
 away. He relapsed into his habitual dreaminess. 
 
 " I wish, Violetta, you hadn't left Normanhurst
 
 74 
 
 four years ago. When you were gone I felt horribly 
 restless. I %vanted excitement. The country had lost 
 its attraction. I took a furnished flat in London and 
 that's where the trouble began. Why did you go ? " 
 
 " I had to. My father needed me." 
 
 " Your father ? He'd been in the Army, hadn't 
 he ? What did he want you for ? " 
 
 " Various things. We'd always been a good deal 
 together! He was accustomed to rely upon me. Really, 
 we were more like chums than father and daughter. 
 I felt I couldn't leave him to shift for himself." 
 
 " And he's dead so I understand from Ella." 
 
 " Yes, he was killed riding in a steeplechase. It was 
 about the last thing one would have expected. He 
 was a splendid horseman." 
 
 " His death must have made you hate racing and 
 all that belongs to it. Wasn't that so ? " 
 
 Violetta evaded the question. 
 
 " Has your ill luck made you hate it ? " said she. 
 
 " By heaven, I loathe it. I'll never again risk a 
 farthing on a horse, and I'll never trust a woman who 
 does." 
 
 Was this meant as a warning to her ? Why should 
 it ? There could be no significance in his words beyond 
 an expression of his own tastes. He knew nothing 
 of her life of her experience. She wondered if he 
 had that knowledge what he would think of her. 
 
 " You're rather hard upon women who bet," said 
 she, quietly. 
 
 " I've reason to be. But we needn't go into that." 
 
 So there was a woman at the bottom of the trouble. 
 Knowing the racing world as she did, Violetta would 
 have been surprised if there hadn't been. 
 
 " Raking up the past is stupid and profitless. It's 
 the future that matters, isn't it ? I should like to 
 hear how you propose getting back Normanhurst." 
 
 " I've told you I don't know. I'm totally ignorant 
 of soap making, motor manufacturing, or anything
 
 75 
 
 like that. It would have been better if I'd been 
 brought up to a business. It would have kept me out of 
 temptation, wouldn't it ? " and he laughed a little 
 bitterly. 
 
 " You can make money in business without knowing 
 anything about the business itself. It only wants 
 capital and brains." 
 
 Violetta's frankness did not offend him in the least. 
 On the contrary it amused him. 
 
 " Thanks," said he, smilingly. " You've spotted 
 the two weak points." 
 
 " I suppose they can be remedied. Was Norman- 
 hurst your only landed property ? " 
 
 " No. I've a ramshackle place about ten miles distant 
 from it that's never brought in more than 50 a year. 
 The house is beastly ugly and the soil's so barren I 
 didn't think it worth while to try to mortgage it. It's 
 called the Owl's Nest and there never was a more appro- 
 priate title." 
 
 " The Owl's Nest ! How romantic it sounds ! Is 
 it picturesque ? " 
 
 "Rather. That 'sits only recommendation. Between 
 ourselves, I'd a fancy for taking up my quarters there 
 when the crash came, but Ella shrieked when I suggested 
 it. She declared that the place was haunted, and my 
 argument that spooks were in her line perhaps she 
 hasn't told you that she's a bit gone on spiritualism 
 went for nothing. Of course, I gave in for the sake 
 of peace and quietness, and so we came to this show, 
 which I never particularly cared for, and which I'm 
 now heartily sick of. But I may like it better now 
 you've come." 
 
 Violetta took no notice of the implied compliment. 
 She brushed it aside impatiently. 
 
 " I want to hear more about the Owl's Nest. Do tell 
 me. Is it occupied ? " 
 
 " No, and it hasn't been for over a year. I doubt 
 if the house is inhabitable."
 
 76 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " I should like to see it." 
 
 " Would you ? There's no difficulty. We could 
 motor there in an hour and a half." 
 
 " How jolly. When can we go ? To-morrow ? " 
 
 " All the days are the same to me. To-morrow, if 
 you like." 
 
 " I suppose Ella wouldn't go ? " Violetta's question 
 was not put with much enthusiasm. 
 
 " Not she. I don't see that we want her. You're 
 not afraid of Mrs. Grundy, are you ? " 
 
 " Isn't Mrs. Grundy out of date these days ?" 
 
 " Well, yes. Jazz dancing, bare backs and the 
 divorce court have been too much for the old lady. 
 And a good thing too, don't you think so ? " 
 
 "I won't commit myself to that opinion. It all 
 depends upon the person and circumstances." 
 
 At that moment there was a bustle in the lobby outside 
 and Ella bounced in. 
 
 " You two look pretty cornfy I must say," she ex- 
 claimed in not a particularly pleased tone. " I thought 
 you came here to play billiards." 
 
 " And so we did. We've had two games. I beat 
 Violetta in one and she beat me in the other." 
 
 " How did she manage that ? You let her win, I 
 suppose." 
 
 " No. It was the other way about. She let me 
 win the first game, and in the second she simply ran 
 away from me." 
 
 Ella's face became as unpleasant as her voice. 
 
 " How on earth did you learn to play so well ? I 
 almost feel inclined to quote the worn saying that skill 
 at billiards is evidence of an ill-spent youth." 
 
 " It's a question of comparison, my dear. It doesn't 
 follow that I play well because I beat your brother." 
 
 " Of course not," put in Sir John with a chuckle. 
 " What does follow is that I played dashed bad." 
 
 Ella tossed her head. She did not pursue the 
 subj ect. She turned to her brother in her spasmodic way.
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 77 
 
 " You'll be glad to hear, John, that I've had a most 
 successful morning." 
 
 " What, has the Vicar promised to lend his church 
 for one of your performances ? " 
 
 " Don't be stupid. No. I found a number of most 
 interesting people at the Vicarage. The talk turned 
 upon spiritualism, and I was amazed to find how many 
 of the party had taken up the study. Some of them 
 have had the most satisfactory results." 
 
 " What do you mean by satisfactory ? " 
 
 " Why, they've had most convincing proof of the 
 possibility of communicating with the other world." 
 
 " Really. What did the Vicar say to that ? Poaching 
 on his preserves, wasn't it ? I've always had an idea 
 that the church was supposed to look after the other 
 world for us." 
 
 " We didn't let him know what we were talking about. 
 It so happened that those who were interested in the 
 subject were sitting together. Of course we couldn't 
 talk freely, as he was present and we didn't know how 
 he would take it. I was afraid he might reprove us 
 and in an argument with a clergyman one always feels 
 at a disadvantage you can't contradict the man 
 without an uncomfortable sensation that you're guilty 
 of blasphemy. So we agreed to meet again and compare 
 our experiences." 
 
 " Hang it, Ella, what experiences have you had ? " 
 
 " Not any, but I want to have some. We've arranged 
 to hold a seance here tomorrow evening. The little 
 round table in the spare room will do splendidly. Mrs. 
 Parry has offered to bring a wonderful medium 
 a Mrs. Willoughby Smythe, who by a great piece of 
 luck happens to be staying here. We're bound to have 
 some remarkable manifestations if all that's said about 
 her is true." 
 
 John Norman stared blankly at his sister. He was 
 biting his lips and frowning slightly. Apparently he 
 did not welcome the prospect of the avalanche.
 
 78 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " I've been thinking, John, that you might do worse 
 than go in for spiritualism as a hobby. It would take 
 you completely out of yourself." 
 
 " Thanks. I'm quite contented with myself as I 
 am, and I don't want to be anybody else. So far as 
 spiritualism is concerned, I hate it, and you needn't 
 reckon upon me to-morrow night." 
 
 Norman spoke with unwonted asperity and his 
 self-assertion evidently took Ella by surprise. 
 
 " Do as you like, of course, but it'll be very awkward. 
 What excuse am I to offer ? How am I to explain 
 your refusal to join us when you're in the house all 
 the time ? " 
 
 " That's where you're wrong. I shan't be in the house. 
 I've promised to motor Violetta to the Owl's Nest. I've 
 been telling her about it and its reputation for being 
 haunted. She's most anxious to see it. Possibly 
 we shall have a better chance there of running across 
 a ghost than you'll have here." 
 
 "Motor Violetta to the Owl's Nest," repeated Ella, 
 her face suddenly growing very long. " It's absurd. 
 You must put off the excursion. Any other day but 
 to-morrow will do just as well. Have you promised 
 to go, Violetta ? " 
 
 J.' Yes. I was looking forward to it, but as you sa) ? , 
 another day will do just as well." 
 
 " Indeed it won't," broke in Norman, half angrily. 
 " I hate putting things off especially for the sake of 
 people I don't know and don't want to know. After 
 what Violetta has just said, I shan't disappoint her." 
 
 " But surely, Violetta, under the circumstances you 
 wouldn't think of going ? " cried Ella petulantly. 
 
 " If Sir John insists, I don't know how I can refuse." 
 
 Violetta from the corner of her eye could see a look 
 of relief stealing over Norman's face. It looked as if 
 a contest of wills between brother and sister was going 
 on, and she determined to back him up for all she was 
 worth. From what she had seen of the Norman house-
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 79 
 
 hold she had decided that it was time John Norman 
 asserted himself. 
 
 " Oh, very well," snapped Ella, and she swept from 
 the room, her features twitching and suggesting that 
 she was on the verge of tears. 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 VIOLETTA'S " JOY-RIDE " 
 
 THE evening passed in a not particularly lively fashion. 
 Ella was alternately snappy and sulky. Her brother 
 was distraught and Violetta felt bored to death. She 
 played and sang out of sheer desperation, and did not 
 much care whether or not she was entertaining her 
 friends. Her hostess professed a slight indisposition 
 and could not be persuaded into doing anything. 
 Evidently she did not look upon the proposed trip to 
 the Owl's Nest with approval. Violetta was quite glad 
 when the time came to say good-night. Before going 
 to bed, she sat for some time in a comfortable, padded 
 wicker chair, nursing her knee her favourite attitude 
 when she wanted to think over things. On the whole, 
 she was more interested in Sir John Norman than she 
 had expected. She no longer had any idea of captivating 
 him. That notion, if she had ever meant it seriously, 
 had passed away, but it was not from any mercenary 
 motive. She wanted money, it was true, but she was 
 not anxious to get it by marrying a rich man. It might 
 mean a sacrifice of her independence and she valued 
 her freedom more than anything in life. The discovery, 
 therefore, that the baronet was ruined did not come 
 as the disappointment which she would have felt had 
 she fixed upon him as her husband. 
 At the same time, he did interest her. She was not
 
 8o A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 clear why it was so. She was inclined to put it down 
 to her innate antagonism towards Ella. Outwardly 
 Ella had always been very friendly with her, but the 
 two had never come into conflict over any vital matter. 
 Violetta was not one to take any account of trifling 
 differences of opinion, and she had always given way. 
 
 Somehow she now felt inclined for active hostilities 
 It angered her to see Ella domineering over her brother, 
 and it angered her still more to find the man tamely 
 submitting. 
 
 " It's no business of mine, anyway," she told herself. 
 " I suppose I shall have to stay some little time as 
 I've sent for my things and it would be stupid to quarrel 
 with Ella just because her brother hasn't pluck enough 
 to stand up for himself." 
 
 She smiled. It had occurred to her that a little drama 
 was beginning in the unexpected determination of 
 Sir John to have his own way, and that this determina- 
 tion was primarily due to herself. But mightn't there 
 be some other motive at work ? Why was Norman so 
 set against a spiritualistic seance ? She, Violetta, 
 would rather have liked it. " Cranks " of any sort 
 were entertaining once in a way. She did not think 
 that the baronet was afraid of " cranks" or had any 
 particular objection to a seance per se. His manner 
 suggested some personal dislike. 
 
 " Perhaps there may be more fun here than I imagined 
 at first " was her final comment, and with hope in her 
 mind she went peacefully to sleep. 
 
 It was clear the next morning that Ella had not re- 
 covered her good temper. She did not appear at the 
 breakfast table and sent down word that she had a bad 
 headache. Sir John, on the other hand, had risen 
 early. He was anxious, he explained, not to be dis- 
 appointed about the car, and had gone to the garage 
 before breakfast. 
 
 " It's all right," said he. " Shall we start about 
 eleven ? Will that suit you ? "
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 81 
 
 " Admirably. I shall enjoy the ride immensely, 
 I'm sure. It's a delightful morning, and promises 
 to be an ideal spring day. I'm sorry, though, I haven't 
 any proper motor costume. Do you mind ? " 
 
 " / don't mind. Why should I ? It's you who 
 ought to worry. But you don't seem much troubled." 
 
 Violetta, as a matter of fact, was in great good humour 
 and was looking her best. She had had misgivings 
 that Norman's courage might have oozed out during 
 the night, and was rejoiced to find that it hadn't. In 
 addition, her belongings had arrived from the hotel 
 in London, and this was a special source of satisfaction. 
 No woman likes to depend upon a single dress no matter 
 how well she may look in it. 
 
 " Troubled ? No indeed. I'm never troubled when 
 I'm expecting a pleasure." 
 
 " I hope it will be one. Anyway, I shall have nothing 
 to prevent me devoting myself entirely to you. I'm 
 an awful ass where motoring is concerned, so we shall 
 have a chauffeur to take the responsibility. I know 
 it's not the right thing. Almost as bad as a boating 
 man having someone to row for him." 
 
 " Luckily, I'm neither a motorist or a boating 
 woman, so it doesn't matter, does it ? " 
 
 " I don't know that it does. Still, it won't be what's 
 called a joy ride." 
 
 " And what's that ? " asked Violetta, as demure as 
 the lady depicted in Milton's " Penseroso." 
 
 He laughed. 
 
 " It must be experienced, I believe. It can't be 
 described. Part of the enjoyment, I understand, consists 
 in getting every ounce of speed out of the car and 
 defying the regulations." 
 
 " I shouldn't at all mind that on a horse." 
 
 He became a little graver. 
 
 " I suppose not. I remember your splendid riding 
 at Normanhurst. I've given up thinking about horses." 
 
 " Not for ever, surely ? "
 
 82 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " If I keep in my present mind it may be so, but we 
 won't talk about horses, please." 
 
 " You ought to have gone in for training in motoring, 
 then you'd have a topic you'd have plenty to say about. 
 I'm told motor talk's most engrossing." 
 
 " I know I know. I've run across motor maniacs. 
 They open their mouths over nothing else. It's all 
 gibberish to me. Don't worry. Where you are Violetta 
 there'll be no lack of a subject for conversation." 
 
 " Thanks. I didn't know I could let my tongue 
 run away with me." 
 
 " I don't mean that." 
 
 He shot her a glance, the meaning of which Violetta 
 understood quite well, and she left it at that. 
 
 " Will you give me half an hour, please, to get ready ? " 
 said she. 
 
 " Take your time, but don't be longer than you can 
 help. Between ourselves, I'd like to get away before 
 Ella shows up. I upset her last night, and she's horrid 
 when she's put out. I hate to start the day with a row, 
 don't you ? " 
 
 Violetta nodded and tripped away. She joined him 
 within the half hour. He was pacing the room rest- 
 lessly, a cigarette between his lips. She thought he 
 looked worried, but she made no remark. He brightened 
 when his eyes lighted upon her, as well they might, for 
 she presented an engaging picture with her tailor made 
 skirt, blouse, up and down collar, and scarf, the pin 
 of which added a provoking touch of coquetry. The 
 masculine suggestions of her costume suited her 
 amazingly. Her hat was a little sailor straw, with a 
 feather artfully disposed. 
 
 " By Jove, one would think you were about to mount 
 a horse rather than a motor," he could not help saying. 
 
 " I thought you didn't want horses mentioned." 
 
 " Perhaps I didn't explain myself. I meant horse 
 racing. Anyhow, let's be off.' 
 
 As the car started Violetta glanced at one of the
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 83 
 
 upper windows. She saw the blind shift slightly, and 
 she laughed. Ella was on the watch. Violetta had 
 in a way thrown down the gauntlet. 
 
 Soon they were bowling along the high road. Pres- 
 ently the car turned into a lane and the chauffeur 
 slackened speed. 
 
 " It's a cross-country run to Weltersfield, sir. I 
 suppose you'd like me to take the shortest cut ? " 
 
 " I'm not so sure about that. What do you say ? " 
 
 He had turned to Violetta. 
 
 " There's no hurry, I suppose," said she. " I should 
 like to see as much as I can of English scenery. I've 
 been away for a long time you know, and there's nothing 
 on the Continent like the fresh green of our country. 
 I missed the English hedgerows terribly." 
 
 " Very well, then, we'll go by the prettiest route 
 and chance it being the longest. It's between thirty 
 and forty miles, I suppose, to Weltersfield, eh ? " 
 
 " Quite that, sir." 
 
 " Nothing for a motor ride, so we'll go leisurely. 
 No " scorching " mind." 
 
 The chauffeur's wooden face never moved. Going 
 leisurely was not his idea of motoring. His difficulty 
 would be keeping within his instructions. 
 
 " Whereabouts is Weltersfield ? " asked Violetta. 
 
 " On the borders of Surrey, ten miles from Norman- 
 hurst. As I told you, I should have gone there but 
 for Ella. Plenty of rabbit shooting but not much good 
 for anything else. If you're fond of the picturesque 
 you'll get it there. An artist friend I showed it to 
 raved over the views." 
 
 " Well, that's something, anyhow. You don't 
 sketch, I suppose ? " 
 
 " No. I'm fond of pictures and all that, but nothing 
 more. To tell you the truth, Violetta, I don't believe 
 I'm good at anything excepting," he added with a 
 queer sort of laugh, " at being fooled." 
 
 "Oh, we're most of us touched a bit that way at
 
 84 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 times, I fancy. We can't always be wise. It would 
 be an awfully dull world if it weren't for the fools. 
 They contribute largely to the gaiety of nations." 
 
 " That's your idea, is it ? Then you don't think 
 I'm an absolute ass because I allowed myself to be 
 taken in ? " 
 
 " I don't see why I should. I told you so last night. 
 It's generally the people we trust we have to thank 
 for our misfortunes, where money's concerned." 
 
 " Well, yes. The odd thing was I discovered that 
 what I thought I knew most about I knew least. Horses 
 were always my hobby until I went in for keeping racers, 
 but even then if I hadn't been let down by the man 
 I tnisted I mightn't have been so smashed up. You 
 see, he induced me to buy a lot of crocks which turned . 
 out frauds. But this wasn't the worst. The best horse 
 I bought was on my own judgment. I backed it for 
 all I was worth to win the Derby, and I'll swear it 
 would, too, but at the last moment it was got at or 
 the jockey was. Do you know what that means ? " 
 
 " I think I can guess." 
 
 " And that's how I came to grief. Then hang it, 
 Violetta, I entreated you not to talk about horse racing, 
 and here I am prancing about on forbidden ground ! 
 I've said enough. Tell me something about yourself 
 just to change one's thoughts. What did you do in 
 Paris ? " 
 
 Violetta had no difficulty in reeling off actual and 
 imaginary experiences, but not a word did she breathe 
 about racing or gambling. 
 
 She saw plainly enough that Norman in his present 
 mood detested both. No doubt it was a case either of 
 a burnt child dreading the fire or of the old adage of the 
 devil^being sick, etc. ; and maybe if Norman was again 
 in possession of money his interest in horses might revive, 
 but this point just now Violetta was not called upon to 
 decide. She wanted to amuse him and she succeeded. 
 Gradually the nervousness and occasional fits of
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 85 
 
 absorption which Violetta had noticed disappeared, and 
 he chatted as in the old days at Normanhurst. 
 
 They lunched at Cobham and sat talking for some time 
 afterwards. The spectre of Ella not hanging over the 
 feast, Violetta had no scruple in indulging in cigarettes. 
 Norman complimented her on her smoking." 
 
 " You smoke like a mari you don't hurry. The 
 idea of most women is that a cigarette should be burnt 
 away as quickly as possible." 
 
 " Yes, I've noticed it is so. Perhaps that's why 
 I don't do it. I don't always follow the example of 
 other women." 
 
 " I'm glad of that," said he, in what sounded almost 
 like a tone of relief. 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " Oh, it doesn't matter. As one goes through life 
 one learns things, that's all." 
 
 Had Violetta cared to avail herself of the opening, 
 she could have teased him as to his views of women, but 
 she remembered the tragedy of his married life, and 
 she let him alone. 
 
 They strolled about Cobham and did not resume the 
 journey for some time. It was but a ten mile ride to 
 Weltersfield, and had they gone by the nearest road 
 they would have passed Normanhurst. But Norman 
 could not face the sight of the old house, and directed 
 the chauffeur down a series of lanes by which the estate 
 was avoided. The car finally emerged upon a fine 
 breezy common on the other side of which was a road 
 which led past a small estate bordered by an oak fence 
 wire barbed at the top. On the other side of the fence 
 was a broad stretch of meadow land, and beyond, 
 sheltered by pine trees, was a squat house, a plain, 
 square, uncompromising sort of building dull brick 
 with a door in the centre and a window each side, and 
 three windows above. At the side was an extensive 
 range of outbuildings. 
 
 Some horses were grazing in the meadow, and between
 
 86 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 them and the house stood a short thick-set man with 
 slightly bowed legs and somewhat stooping in the 
 shoulders. A companion to whom he was talking was 
 slim, undersized, and with the unmistakable look of 
 a jockey about him. 
 
 Violetta took in the shape and build of the horses, 
 their shining, sleek, well-groomed coats and their springy 
 walk, with the delight of a connoisseur. She noted 
 the men and their surroundings, and she knew perfectly 
 well she was passing a trainer's headquarters. But 
 mindful of Norman's injunction, she did not say a 
 word. 
 
 Suddenly the motor engine gave one of those irritating 
 alarming explosions to which the mechanism is liable. 
 The full-blooded horses, startled by the sound, set off 
 on a stampede. It was a pretty sight but not to the 
 trainer or his companion. They both shouted and 
 set off to head the frightened steeds. Fortunately, 
 no harm was done as they had raced in the direction 
 of a high hedge, against which one was cannoned by 
 the rest, but suffered no hurt. It might have been 
 otherwise had they rushed for the fence. Doubtless 
 the men expressed their feelings vigorously, but they 
 were too far away for their words to be heard. 
 
 " Confound it," she heard Norman mutter. " What 
 the mischief made the thing explode just here. If any 
 of those gees had come to grief I'd have had to make it 
 up to old Peter Gumley, though I suppose legally he'd 
 have no claim against me or the chauffeur either." 
 
 " Do you know him ? " asked Violetta. 
 
 " Know Peter Gumley ? I should think I did. The 
 most honest trainer who ever handled horseflesh. 
 Doesn't bet. Imagine that. But I forgot you know 
 nothing about trainers or betting." 
 
 " They're lovely horses, and I'm glad none of them 
 were hurt." 
 
 " So am I. Peter Gumley and I were once great 
 pals, and I was an ass to fall out with him. It was a
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 87 
 
 misunderstanding, engineered, as I've reason to know, 
 by enemies of both of us." 
 
 Norman said no more, and Violetta asked him no 
 questions, but she treasured up the name of Peter 
 Gumley. 
 
 The trainer's quarters were left behind, and about 
 a mile further on the aspect of the country began to 
 change. The road ascended, skirting a typical Surrey 
 common covered with gorse and bracken, interspersed 
 with thickets of bramble and holly. Ahead to the 
 right were rolling downs and to the left woods with 
 here and there clumps of tall pines. The ground was 
 broken, the road still ascending was as full of turns 
 as a snake, and the loose sharp-edged stones showed 
 that there was little or no traffic. The car was traversing 
 what was practically a spur of the long range of chalk 
 hills, of which at Guildford the Hog's Back was a portion. 
 
 " I don't much like this travelling, sir," said the 
 chauffeur, jerking round his head. " It'll be a miracle 
 if we get through without a puncture. Is the place 
 far ? " 
 
 " About half a mile. Go slowly." 
 
 " Slow or fast won't make a razor-edged pebble any 
 better," grumbled the chauffeur. " The road's worse 
 the farther one goes." 
 
 " Shall we get out and walk ? " 
 
 " It 'ud be as well I do think, sir." 
 
 " What do you say, Violetta ? " 
 
 " I should like it. I'm feeling rather cramped." 
 
 " Are you ? Sorry. I don't mind confessing I'm 
 a bit that way myself. Here goes." 
 
 He opened the door sprang to the ground and assisted 
 Violetta to alight. 
 
 " Wait here," said he to the chauffeur. " We may 
 be some time. Here's a cigar to while away the time." 
 
 The chauffeur took the corona gratefully, and put 
 down Sir John in his mind as a real gentleman." 
 
 " Some toffs would ha' kicked up a shindy," he
 
 88 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 remarked to himself. " He's got a proper sort o' girl 
 with him too. She knows how to walk It's a treat 
 to see a pair o' ankles just the right shape, and shoes as 
 don't have egg boilers for heels. Neat figure, dashed 
 if she aint." 
 
 And the better to enjoy the pleasing picture, the 
 chauffeur sat down on a grassy bank commanding a 
 view of the winding road and watched the couple toiling 
 up the ascent. 
 
 " You see now why I've so much difficulty in letting 
 the Owl's Nest. It's such a climb to get there. Cartage 
 is a frightful bother. Shops are miles away, and the 
 butcher and baker often forget to call or are too lazy 
 to fag up the hill." 
 
 " That's true. One would have to turn vegetarian 
 to avoid starvation. I suppose there's accommodation 
 for a cow ? " 
 
 " Well, yes, and a jolly fine paddock for pasture. 
 It's the only piece of level ground there is." 
 
 " Why don't you sell the place ? " 
 
 " Who'd buy it ? Might make a poultry farm, 
 perhaps. Maybe you wonder why a house was stuck 
 here. I'll tell you. It came about when there was 
 such a scare about Bonaparte invading England more 
 than a century ago. Some genius suggested that 
 a number of tower houses should be built on hills between 
 London and Portsmouth, where a sort of telegraphing 
 could be carried on by semaphore signalling in the 
 daytime, and blazing fires at night. Boney never came 
 and the telegraph houses were useless ever after." 
 
 " So the house has a history ; that makes it 
 interesting." 
 
 " I suppose it does. Anyhow, something in it must 
 have interested my father or he wouldn't have bought 
 it. He used to come here for rabbit shooting. He was 
 a bit of a recluse and liked his own company better 
 than anybody else's. I often wonder whether I take 
 after him."
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 89 
 
 " I hope you don't find me boring you," said Violetta, 
 in a mock reproachful tone. 
 
 " My dear Violetta," began Norman, but went no 
 further. 
 
 They had reached the ground surrounding the house. 
 It was approached by a narrow winding road and hedged 
 and fenced around. The foliage of a little wood could 
 be seen beyond. Norman had brought the keys and 
 he unlocked the gate. 
 
 " This is the paddock I told you of. It's not very 
 wide, as you see, but I'm told its half a mile round and 
 fairly level. It wouldn't make a bad circus." 
 
 " You're getting near the forbidden topic," laughed 
 Violetta. " I warn you." 
 
 " Thanks. I'll not forget. The house didn't exhaust 
 the brains of the architect who designed it what do 
 you think ? " 
 
 " It's solid enough, and I imagine it was built to last." 
 
 The Owl's Nest was simply a square brick building 
 of two storeys. Nothing could be simpler. Between 
 the house and the paddock was a flower garden of an 
 irregular shape on slightly higher ground than the 
 paddock ; the house dominated everything. 
 
 " To last ? I should think it was. I believe the 
 foundations are very solid." 
 
 They entered the house. There were two rooms on a 
 floor, and in each room was some plain old fashioned 
 furniture. 
 
 " Mostly Queen Anne stuff. A dealer offered me 
 250 for the lot, which I guess meant it was worth 
 three or four times that amount. I wasn't in want of 
 money then and I refused to sell. Most of it came from 
 Normanhurst. If ever I'm stranded I suppose it'll 
 have to go." 
 
 Violetta was delighted with the place. Its entire 
 absence of ornamentation did not repel her. The 
 furniture was quite in keeping with the severity of the 
 surroundings. They ascended to the roof which was
 
 go A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 approached through a big trap door by a broad step 
 ladder from one of the rooms. The roof was raised 
 slightly in the centre to allow the rain to drain into a 
 broad gutter on one side. Thence it descended to a tank 
 on the ground. 
 
 " That's for soft water useful you know for the 
 garden or the laundry," said Norman. " The views 
 are splendid. My dad liked to smoke his pipe here. 
 You can see into four counties, I believe." 
 
 A wall some three feet high surrounded the roof and 
 against a stack of chimneys was a brazier used at night 
 in former days for signalling purposes. The air was 
 delightfully fresh and the sweet fragrant smell of the 
 pine woods distinctly perceptible. Violetta inhaled 
 it with pleasure. Her eyes wandered over the landscape 
 taking in its varied beauties and its lights and shadows. 
 
 After a time they descended and inspected the out- 
 houses built for the rearing of poultry and other live 
 stock. Everything was in a fair state of repair." 
 
 " Shall we have a look at the wood ? " 
 
 Violetta assented, and they crossed the paddock, 
 and passed through a little wicket gate. 
 
 The wood was on the slope of the hill and the ir- 
 regularity of the ground added to its picturesqueness. 
 The footpaths were innumerable, but the undergrowth 
 was so dense that many of them could only be followed 
 with difficulty. 
 
 All at once an opening showed itself. A precipitous 
 path, practically a series of steps, led down to a pond 
 upon which the sun was pouring its full brilliance. 
 It was like coming upon a dazzling mirror. The banks 
 in some places were steep and at others only of gentle 
 descent. All were covered with vegetation at present 
 showing only the tender green of spring, and promising 
 summer luxuriance. Lichen covered roots had here 
 and there forced themselves through the loose soil and 
 by colour and shape added their charm. At one end 
 a thin stream trickled down huge chalk boulders and
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK gi 
 
 kept a sufficient movement to prevent the formation 
 of duckweed save in obstructed patches where a fallen 
 tree trunk had held up the current. At the end opposite 
 the miniature waterfall was an outlet and from here 
 the water had made for itself a passage and after 
 many twistings found its way to a ditch. 
 
 " How exquisite ! " cried Violetta, clasping her 
 hands. " Why, it's like fairyland. One can imagine 
 Oberon and Titania holding their revels here in the 
 moonlight." 
 
 " I told you that artists went mad over it. But it 
 has practical qualities as well as poetic ones. It's a 
 rare place for carp and tench." 
 
 " And you wanted me to believe that the Owl's Nest 
 was a kind of Starvation Hall. What with growing 
 one's own vegetables and what with fish, rabbits, and 
 poultry, there's not much fear of going short. I noticed 
 a fine brick oven in the scullery. What's to prevent 
 baking one's daily bread ? 
 
 " Nothing whatever. It is, I admit, an ideal Tolstoi 
 residence. It means a lot of work, though." 
 
 " What of that ? I'm in love with the place. Do 
 you want to let it ? " 
 
 " I've no objection but who'd take it ? " 
 
 " I would. What's the rent ? " 
 
 Norman stared. He was flabbergasted at the idea 
 He looked upon Violetta's proposal as the outcome of a 
 woman's romance. He said as much. 
 
 " It's not romance at all. I assure you I mean 
 business, and I'm quite prepared to tackle the hard 
 work." 
 
 " You'd better think over it." 
 
 " I have thought over it, and I've made up my mind. 
 You really must take a common-sense view of your 
 affairs, Sir John, and not let them drift anyhow." 
 
 Violetta had straightened herself. Her tone was 
 emphatic. Her eyes shone with a steady light. Her 
 face, though animated, was firm. She looked more
 
 92 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 masculine than ever. Norman was taken aback. 
 He recognised her energy but he was incredulous as 
 to her capacity for such a crazy enterprise. 
 
 " You don't realise the difficulties," he objected. 
 " What's put this Robinson Crusoe idea into your head ? 
 Do you want the place as a haven of rest and pleasure in 
 the summer time the delusion of the simple life ? " 
 
 " Not at all. I mean business. Poultry farming. 
 I'm out to make money. Come, the rent please. What 
 did the former tenant pay ? " 
 
 Norman felt himself cornered by her directness. 
 
 " I don't exactly remember," said he, reluctantly. 
 " 50, I think it was." 
 
 " Dirt cheap, I call it. If 50 will content you I'll 
 take it at that." 
 
 " But really the winter time you'll be horribly 
 lonely." 
 
 " I shall have a capable woman or two about me, and a 
 man to do the rough work." 
 
 " But you can't make friends of them." 
 
 " Oh, I don't know. I can easily invite friends to 
 stay with me, I suppose." 
 
 " No doubt. Ella might, perhaps " 
 
 " Ella won't. I don't think she'll approve of my 
 being your tenant." 
 
 " Maybe not," rejoined Norman doubtfully. " I 
 doubt if I shall tell her." 
 
 " Do as you like about that. 7 don't care so long 
 as she does'nt talk you into giving me notice to quit." 
 
 " She won't do that, I promise you, but I daresay 
 she'll nag me a bit." 
 
 " Will you stand it ? I suppose a man can't get 
 away from a nagging wife, but a nagging sister well ! " 
 
 Violetta finished the sentence with an expressive 
 shrug of the shoulders. 
 
 Norman looked a little shamefaced. He remembered 
 how long he had endured Ella's tyranny and in the 
 face of Violetta's rebuke he began to wonder why.
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 93 
 
 But at Normanhurst he had to. How could he leave the 
 place and how could he turn his sister out ? Both 
 courses were impossible. He had always given in to 
 her to avoid quarrelling. Yet he had escaped from 
 her domination for a time. That was when he took 
 the bold step for him of running a flat in London. 
 
 " I shan't tell her," said he presently. " This is a 
 compact between ourselves Violetta, and it has nothing 
 to do with anyone else." 
 
 " Then you agree ? Thanks awfully. I suppose 
 we shall have an agreement or lease, or whatever you 
 like to call it, drawn up, shan't we ? But your lawyer 
 will see to that. You're not going back from your 
 word ? " 
 
 "No. I swear " 
 
 " You needn't. Your promise will be sufficient." 
 
 " You don't bar me from coming to see you ? " 
 
 " A landlord has a right, I fancy, to enter his premises 
 at a reasonable time and for a sufficient reason. I 
 daresay you'll want to satisfy yourself that I've kept 
 the place in proper repair." 
 
 " I don't care a fig about that. I can't see myself as 
 your landlord, Violetta." 
 
 " I shan't forget it, and I'll not fail to remind you 
 every quarter day. Now please let us go back to the 
 house. I want to begin planning at once. You won't 
 mind I hope my making a few alterations." 
 
 " Make any that pleases you. Pull the house down 
 if you care to do it." 
 
 " Nothing so stupid. I may be silly at times, but 
 not so silly as all that.'* 
 
 They returned to the house. Violetta was full of 
 ideas. The prospect of a speculative enterprise had 
 given her new life, and she rattled on, to the surprise 
 and entertainment of her companion. Suddenly she 
 looked at her watch. 
 
 " Mercy on us. Do you know we've been here nearly 
 three hours ? What will have become of your car ? "
 
 94 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " It should be where we left it. Perhaps we'd better 
 get back." 
 
 They found the chauffeur fast asleep and he looked 
 rather foolish when he was roused. 
 
 " Beg pardon, sir," he stammered. " I didn't know 
 how long you'd be. But a car ain't a horse it can't 
 bolt." 
 
 " Oh, it's all right. Look here, take us on to Guild- 
 ford. We want to see the country as we go. No 
 making up for lost time, or anything of that sort." 
 
 " Right you are, sir," rejoined the man, with a sly 
 look at Violetta, as much as to say, " You're the cause 
 of this slow going." 
 
 They did not arrive at Guildford until five. They 
 put up at the Angel. Violetta had a cup of tea, and 
 Norman ordered dinner for half past six. Meanwhile, 
 they strolled about the interesting old town. They 
 were the best of friends and, as Norman thought, in a 
 fair way of becoming chums. 
 
 Most of Norman's lady friends at Normanhurst were 
 of the conventional type. Those at Thames-side, 
 when they were not conventional were slightly vulgar 
 and decidedly commonplace. They seemed to exude 
 wealth in their display of jewellery, and were of the sort 
 who in London appear to live at restaurants. Dinners 
 and lunches were to them the most important functions 
 of the day, and auction bridge at night. Violetta 
 on the other hand was wholly unconventional. She 
 had moved about in the world and had been observant 
 of things, and had her own opinion on them. Never 
 had Norman passed a more enjoyable day. Violetta 
 had completely chased away his gloom of the morning. 
 
 But as night approached he became a little fidgety. 
 He invented all manner of excuses for delay, and Violetta 
 acquiesced. A motor ride by moonlight promised 
 enjoyment and novelty. It was a goodish stretch 
 from Guildford to Thames-side, and as the chauffeur 
 had to stop several times generally at hostelries, to
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 95 
 
 enquire the way the car did not arrive at the Willows 
 until half past ten. 
 
 The house was lighted up, and the sounds of a piano 
 and singing were heard. 
 
 " Beastly nuisance," exclaimed Norman in a tone 
 of vexation. " I'd hoped the spiritualistic tomfoolry 
 was over. Ella seerns to have turned it into a sing song. 
 
 " Does it matter ? " asked Violetta. 
 
 " I don't know that it does. Still well, we must 
 go through it, I suppose. But I hate the Thames- 
 side people." 
 
 He spoke in a kind of desperation and seemed to 
 regard the gathering much more seriously than it 
 warranted. So at least Violetta thought. But was 
 there any other reason ? 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 MRS. WlLLOUGHBY SMYTHE 
 
 THE song of the inane sentimental revue type, in waltz 
 time, of course was not finished, and Norman and 
 Violetta waited in the hall rather than interrupt it. 
 Violetta could have easily escaped to her room had 
 she chosen to do so, but she was filled with the spirit 
 of defiance. She knew perfectly well that Norman 
 would need an ally against Ella, certainly, if not against 
 some of the visitors. From what Norman had said 
 about them, she gathered that they were of the new 
 rich class, always ready to stand on what they called 
 their " dignity " others might term it vulgarity 
 and the absence of their host they might regard as a 
 great offence. Still, much might be forgiven a baronet. 
 No doubt Violetta would be looked upon as the chief 
 culprit, and she was ready to defend herself if need be
 
 96 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 She chanced to look at Norman. He had gone very 
 pale and he was gnawing his lower lip nervously. He 
 evidently dreaded the coming conflict. Violetta was 
 puzzled. It was unaccountable that he should be in 
 such terror of his sister. 
 
 The song ended in a prolonged note, loud and shrill, 
 and the accompanist's concluding chord was drowned 
 in uproarious applause. Norman still hung back. 
 
 " We'd better face the situation," whispered Violetta. 
 " We've got to do it some time, you know." 
 
 Her steady voice and her composed manner gave him 
 courage. They entered before the clamour died away. 
 Some of the audience were eager for an encore, which, 
 without a doubt, would have been granted, but for 
 the distraction caused by the unexpected appearance 
 of the two truants. Every eye was turned in their 
 direction, and Violetta did not fail to note the glare 
 of annoyance thrown at her by the vocalist. 
 
 Ella hastened to her brother. She looked un- 
 mistakably angry. 
 
 " Don't make your apologies just yet, John," she 
 whispered snappishly. " Mrs. Willoughby Smythe is 
 going to sing again. So like you, to come at the wrong 
 moment." 
 
 Of Violetta she took not the slightest notice. 
 
 But Mrs. Willoughby Smythe had no intention of 
 obliging again. She kept her stony stare fixed on 
 Violetta and then deliberately turned her back there 
 was a good deal of the latter on view. She was a tall 
 fair woman, with a well-developed almost too well- 
 developed form, and she was undeniably handsome, but 
 of a type more fleshly than refined. Her complexion 
 was artistically laid on, and herein she showed discretion. 
 It was not overdone. Her age was probably not less 
 than thirty. 
 
 Violetta classed her at once. She had seen many 
 like her in Paris, on the race course, and at the Folies 
 Bergere. Her prototype was familiar at Monte Carlo.
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 97 
 
 These women were out to make money not by their wits 
 but by the exhibition of their charms. But anyone 
 less like the orthodox spiritualistic medium could 
 hardly be conceived. What was she doing in that 
 galere ? Violetta looked at her with considerable 
 curiosity and decided that her interest in the Norman 
 household was deepening. 
 
 Norman knew one or two of the visitors and greeted 
 them politely. Then Ella took him in charge and 
 introduced him to others, coming finally to Mrs. Wil- 
 loughby Smythe, who with her back still turned to the 
 company generally, was apparently absorbed in turning 
 over a pile of music. 
 
 " Mrs. Willoughby Smythe," said Ella in her high- 
 pitched voice, " I want to introduce my brother to you." 
 
 The lady wheeled round slowly and fixed a somewhat 
 hard smile on Sir John. The latter bowed without 
 saying a word. 
 
 " I shall leave him to make his excuses for missing your 
 striking demonstration of psychic power." 
 
 Ella swished away and the two were left together. 
 No one was very near, and the loud chatter effectually 
 masked their voices. Mrs. Willoughby Smythe waited 
 for Sir John to speak, and he had no alternative but 
 to begin. 
 
 " What does your coming here mean ? " he asked 
 coldly. 
 
 " I wanted to see you again. I wanted your forgive- 
 ness. I know I behaved in a very silly fashion, and 
 you must have thought ever so many bad things about 
 me. But, as you must admit, I wasn't wholly to blame." 
 
 " Is it worth while to go into the past ? " said he. 
 " You took your own course and I suppose you acted 
 according to what you thought was right. I've nothing 
 to say. You can hardly expect me to forgive you." 
 
 " Indeed I do. You must. Of course, we can't 
 discuss the matter here. I ask you I entreat you to 
 meet me, I want to go into an explanation."
 
 " I'd rather not hear it. What would be the use ? 
 It's all over between us." 
 
 " Indeed it isn't. How can it be so ? You know 
 better than that, John. Don't make an enemy of me. 
 I warn you." 
 
 Up to this point her voice, which was really musical, 
 was soft and wheedling. It now took on a harshness 
 of which one would hardly have suspected it was capable. 
 
 " I don't desire that we should be enemies, though 
 I've ample cause to look upon you as anything but a 
 friend. Still " 
 
 " When will you meet me, and where ? " she inter- 
 jected. 
 
 " You'd better write what you wish to say. I don't 
 see that any good can come of a meeting." 
 
 " Who's the girl you've been taking for a joy ride ? " 
 she burst out with a quiver in her utterance which told 
 of passion raging within her. 
 
 " She's a friend of my sister's, but it's no affair of 
 yours." 
 
 " That's where you make a mistake. It is my affair, 
 and you know it. 
 
 " I know nothing of the kind. Of all people in the 
 world, you've the least right to criticise what I choose 
 to do." 
 
 She laughed scornfully. 
 
 " We'll see about that later on. Don't forget that 
 I can if I choose throw a bombshell into this room 
 that you wouldn't find very pleasant." 
 
 " Nor would you. I can't imagine you making such 
 a fool of yourself, Christine." 
 
 The lady's eyes were blazing in the effort to control 
 herself, and she compressed her lips until they were 
 little more than a thin white line. She had evidently 
 taken his words to heart. John Norman had un- 
 expectedly shown fight. It was his way. He was not 
 wanting in courage, but it had to be roused by real 
 danger. He was at his best when in a hot corner.
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 99 
 
 "We'll defer the argument, but all the same it'll 
 have to be thrashed out." 
 
 " As you please. For to-night I take it we've said 
 enough." 
 
 He bowed coldly and turned away. He was only 
 just in time. One of the women whom he knew had 
 drawn near them and had they continued the alter- 
 cation she must have overheard their words, for do 
 what they would they could not help raising their 
 voices. 
 
 " Has Mrs. Willoughby Smythe been telling the 
 wonderful things she said about you in her message 
 from the other world ? " asked the new comer. 
 
 " Mrs. Willoughby Smythe has revealed nothing," 
 returned Norman, with a significant glance at the 
 " medium." 
 
 " I never remember what I say under the influence. 
 It all goes when the spirit no longer desires to make 
 use of me." 
 
 Mrs. Willoughby Smythe had a voice and manner 
 at her command which she employed when speaking 
 of the spirit world, and she became preter naturally 
 solemn and deliberate. She had discovered that non- 
 sense uttered in an impressive tone generally went 
 down as truth. With spiritualism personal conviction 
 is everything. 
 
 " Is that really so ? Well, that makes it all the more 
 wonderful. Then you must get your sister, Sir John, 
 to tell you. She says that if Mrs. Willonghby Smythe 
 had known you all your life she could not have been 
 more accurate. I understood from Miss Norman that 
 you and Mrs. Smythe were perfect strangers. 
 
 " Quite true, Miss Alison," rejoined Norman, with 
 another challenging glance at Mrs. Willoughby Smythe, 
 who remained silent. 
 
 " I do hope you'll give us another manifestation soon, 
 Mrs. Smythe. You won't be leaving Thames-side 
 yet awhile, will you ? " went on Miss Alison.
 
 loo A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " I don't know. I haven't made any plans. I'm 
 wanted very much in London." 
 
 " Oh you must be. Spiritualism is so interesting 
 whether you believe in it or not. Good-bye. I trust 
 we shall be meeting again before long. Good-bye, 
 Sir John. The next time we have a stance you really 
 must come." 
 
 " I'm a sceptic. I'm afraid my presence would act as 
 a deterrent." 
 
 " You don't know until you try. I've heard of 
 pronounced sceptics being convinced against their 
 wills and becoming fervent believers. It might be 
 so in your case, Sir John." 
 
 " if might," echoed Norman. " Anyhow, I'm con- 
 tented as I am." 
 
 He shot the words at Mrs. Willoughby Smythe as he 
 turned aside to shake hands with another departing 
 guest. 
 
 The evening was at an end. The end had come about 
 sooner than was expected. Somehow the arrival of 
 Norman and Violetta had broken into the enjoyment 
 and the interruption could not be bridged over. Ella 
 had not anticipated anything would follow the seance, 
 but a reaction had set in after an hour's enforced silence 
 in a darkened room, and music was welcomed. 
 
 Violetta was not averse to the exodus. Ella had 
 hehaved very rudely towards her and had not spoken. 
 She was being cut severely, but she did not show the 
 least resentment. She could have slipped away without 
 being noticed, but she never moved. She was deter- 
 mined to sit through the drama which was going on 
 at the other end of the room. Not a single word could, 
 of course, be heard, but the faces of Sir John and Mrs. 
 Willoughby Smythe told her they were not indulging 
 in commonplaces. 
 
 Violetta had not removed her outdoor costume, but 
 she was in keeping with others in the room. The party 
 was quite an informal one, and only Mrs. Willoughby
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK iot 
 
 Smythe in her capacity as medium was hatless. On 
 the whole Violetta was satisfied with her appearance 
 and was perfectly conscious that the sober simplicity 
 of her attire was in effective contrast with the over- 
 gowned and over-jewelled women. Quite at home, 
 she chatted easily with her nearest neighbour, hoping 
 to annoy Ella by her indifference to the slight sought 
 to be put upon her. 
 
 But when the last visitor had departed she prepared 
 herself for the fray. She made up her mind she would 
 have no assistance from Sir John who, with a cigarette 
 between his lips, was walking restlessly about the 
 room, but this did not matter. She could always 
 fight for herself. 
 
 Ella came up to her boiling with emotional rage. 
 She could only control herself sufficiently to ejaculate 
 one word which escaped her like a pellet from a pop- 
 gun. 
 
 " Well ! " 
 
 " Well what ? " was Violetta's retort. 
 
 " What ? What explanation have you to offer 
 of your extraordinary conduct ? " 
 
 " Extraordinary conduct ? Please, Ella, spare me. 
 I never was good at guessing riddles." 
 
 " No ? Well, I think I can guess yours. I call it 
 most disgraceful." 
 
 " Call what most disgraceful ? " 
 
 " Your motoring about all day with John and re- 
 turning at this time of night." 
 
 Norman interposed. 
 
 " Come, now, Ella, be fair. What has Violetta ? " 
 
 " Violetta ? I suppose you mean Miss Vaughan." 
 
 "I said Violetta, and I mean Violetta. If you're 
 going to work yourself into a passion over anybody, 
 please select me. I'm used to your hysterical out- 
 bursts, she's not. If there's any blame which I 
 flatly deny I'll take it. But, good Heavens, do you 
 suppose I'm to be talked to as though I were a school
 
 102 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 boy ? Don't answer, Violctta. There's nothing for 
 you to answer." 
 
 Norman's sudden show of spirit both surprised and 
 pleased Violetta. 
 
 " I quite agree with you, Sir John," said she. 
 
 " Sir John ? Why not John or dear John. I've 
 no doubt it was dear John and dear Violetta on your 
 joy ride." 
 
 " Oh, you're simply impossible," cried Norman, 
 waving his hand at Violetta to signal her to keep sillencc 
 though he need not have troubled himself. She was 
 quite contented to shrug her shoulders and allow him 
 to carry on the contest single handed. She was curious 
 to see whether he would hold his own. 
 
 " Impossible, am I ? Then what are you ? The 
 story will be common talk all over the place to-morrow. 
 There's nothing the people down here like better than 
 scandal. I begin to think there's a good deal of truth 
 in what Mrs. Willoughby Smythc said while she was 
 in a trance." 
 
 " Mrs. Willoughby Smythe in a trance ! That's too 
 funny. But I'll have no more of this nonsense. It's 
 absolutely silly. I apologise to }'ou, Violetta. I'm 
 sorry my sister has made such an exhibition of herself." 
 
 "I'm sorry too, but it's not of the least consequence 
 excepting that I regret I've been the cause of so much 
 trouble between you. However, I can easily put an 
 end to it. To-morrow morning I return to London." 
 
 " I should think so, indeed," almost shrieked Ella, 
 who was not to be appeased while her nerves were in 
 tumult. 
 
 " I wish you good-night, Sir John, and thank you 
 not only for the ride but for what you've said just now 
 in my behalf." 
 
 Violetta did not show the least discomposure. Nor- 
 m an, anticipating her, moved swiftly to the door, opened 
 it for her, and held out his hand as she passed. 
 
 " You 're quite right to leave the house, but it's not
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 103 
 
 going to mean a parting between us," said he in a low 
 voice. 
 
 " I don't see why it should. Good-night once more." 
 
 Then she vanished. She had caught sight of Ella's 
 face white with fury. But for this she did not care a 
 button. She had roused Norman's latent energy, and 
 this was everything. 
 
 " I've always said you were a fool where women 
 were, John," burst out his sister. " If I'd thought 
 Violetta's object in coming here was to make love to 
 you I'd never have invited her. Yet I might have 
 known what would happen. At school she was always 
 getting other girls into scrapes and escaping blame 
 herself." 
 
 " Look here, Ella, I'm not in the mood to quarrel 
 with you, either about Violetta or anybody else. Good- 
 night." 
 
 He walked off to Ella's intense disgust. She had 
 worked herself into a volcano of rage and was eager to 
 vent it upon her brother. But it would keep. She 
 had seen John many a time before slip out of a wrangle 
 by a judicious retirement. It was his way of admitting 
 his defeat. She could not believe that his precipitous 
 retreat meant any more than his usual flight. 
 
 The next morning Violetta was up betimes. She 
 always got on well with servants as she never assumed 
 airs and was generous with her tips. She easily per- 
 suaded a housemaid to go out and arrange for a taxi 
 to come for her and her luggage. She refused breakfast 
 and accepted only a cup of tea. She was anxious to 
 get away as soon as possible, and so avoid an encounter 
 with Ella, which would have been an unprofitable 
 waste of time. As for Sir John well, she didn't par- 
 ticularly want to see him. She was still in the same 
 mind about renting the Owl's Nest, but he had given 
 her the name and address of his solicitor, and she could 
 easily arrange the matter through the lawyer. 
 
 No one was in the dining-room when she went in.
 
 104 A QUEEN QF THE PADDOCK 
 
 The cook was scandalised at the idea of so nice a young 
 lady going away breakfastless, and on her own re- 
 sponsibility had added an egg and bread and butter 
 to the cup of tea. She was indifferent to what her 
 mistress would say, but there was little risk of her 
 knowing anything about it, as after one of her outbursts 
 of nerves Ella usually remained in bed half the next day. 
 
 Violetta swallowed the meal hastily lest Norman 
 should come in and delay her. The early morning 
 is always an unfavourable time for discussing em- 
 barrassing questions. One is rarely strung up to the 
 proper pitch, and she was thankful he did not make his 
 appearance. 
 
 Before nine o'clock she was at the station, where she 
 found she had half, an hour to wait for the train. 
 
 For ten minutes or so she walked up and down the 
 platform and was about to sit down when she saw 
 Norman emerge from the booking office and look about 
 him. Directly he caught sight of her he came forward 
 rapidly. 
 
 " By Jove," he exclaimed, raising his hat, " you 
 flitted away like a ghost. You hadn't been gone a 
 minute before I came down. I wanted to have a word 
 with you. I didn't think you would be off so early. 
 You needn't have been in such a hurry. Still, I'd 
 rather talk with you here than in the house. Whether 
 sleeping or waking, Ella's spirit somehow is always 
 pervading the place. What did you think of the un- 
 pleasantness last night ? " 
 
 "I've forgotten all about it. On the whole, it was 
 rather amusing. You see, I knew Ella of old. Perhaps 
 it was as well we came to grips at an early stage. We 
 were bound to have a row sooner or later." 
 
 " Yet knowing this you ventured to come." 
 
 " Yes, I ventured to come." 
 
 " Why on earth did you ? " 
 
 " I had so pleasant a recollection of my stay at 
 Normanhurst I was tempted to repeat the pleasure. Of
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 105 
 
 course, I hadn't the slightest idea things had so changed. 
 Your losses don't seem to have affected you so much 
 as they have Ella. She has become frightfully tetchy, 
 and much more difficult to deal with than she used 
 to be." 
 
 " Beastly difficult. I wish to goodness she'd marry 
 the young fool she's engaged to, and let me run alone. 
 But " his manner had become a little hesitating 
 " when I asked you what you thought of last night 
 I hadn't Ella in my mind. Like the poor, she's always 
 with us, and I don't believe she'll ever alter. What 
 I wanted to know was your opinion of of Mrs. Wil- 
 loughby Smythe ? " 
 
 " Does my opinion matter ? " 
 
 " It matters very much to me. You strike me 
 as so level headed, Violetta, that I feel almost inclined 
 
 to " he broke off, reddening. " Yes, I want your 
 
 opinion of her candidly." 
 
 " What one woman thinks of another is bound to be 
 prejudiced and possibly unfair." 
 
 " But often bitterly true." 
 
 " Well, as I presume what I think can be of no con- 
 sequence to you one way or the other, I'll venture to 
 speak my mind. I don't know, of course, anything about 
 her as a spiritualistic medium she may be genuine, 
 she may be a fraud but in other respects by the way, 
 are you interested in her ? " 
 
 " In a fashion I suppose I am." 
 
 " Then please let me off saying anything more. I'd 
 rather not." 
 
 " But you must. I've my reasons for asking." 
 
 At that moment the screech of an engine was heard. 
 The London train was approaching. 
 
 " I can only look upon her in the light in which one 
 woman always regards another, though perhaps she 
 won't confess it. I should say to a man who was 
 thinking of marrying her, remember Punch's advice 
 don't."
 
 106 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 Norman did not at once reply. His expression was 
 sombre ; his eyes fixed on space. A second screech 
 from the nearing engine recalled his wandering senses. 
 
 " Advice which generally comes too late to be of any 
 good," said he. " You may be right about Mrs. 
 Willoughby Smythe. She has the reputation of being 
 a reckless gambler and can never resist betting on horses. 
 She is of a class whom I've come to detest." 
 
 " Then you know her ? " 
 
 " No one better. She happens to be my wife ! There, 
 it's out. I wanted to tell you but I hadn't the pluck. 
 Good-bye. Are you still fixed on taking the Owl's 
 Nest ? " 
 
 Violetta stood mute. The unexpected confession 
 had paralysed her. Before she had recovered herself 
 the train was slowing down at the platform. There 
 was no time to express astonishment or sympathy if 
 sympathy was required. All she could do was to 
 reply to his question. 
 
 " Yes " she forced herself to say " I shall call 
 on your lawyer as soon as I get back to town." 
 
 " I'm glad I'm awfully glad. I don't want to 
 lose sight of you. I won't. Good-bye and good 
 luck." 
 
 The next minute she was in the carriage and the 
 train bore her away. Norman, hat in hand, waved her 
 a farewell. 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 PETER GUMLEY. THE TRAINER 
 
 A pleasant undulating bit of country is that part of 
 Sussex known as Holberry Down. Long stretches of 
 fine turf on a chalk bottom alternate with sweet smelling 
 pines and firs, which flourish healthily on the strips
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 107 
 
 of sandy soil to be found, by some odd geological freak, 
 stuck here and there among the chalk. As fine a place 
 for a morning gallop as one could find in all England, 
 and no wonder that experienced judge of horseflesh 
 Peter Gumley, selected it as an ideal place for a training- 
 stable. 
 
 Peter Gumley was a man who had been used to 
 horses ever since he had been out of the cradle. He 
 was quite sixty years of age, but looked no more than 
 forty, thanks to his early hours at night, his equally 
 early hours in the morning, and his regular and ab- 
 stemious life. 
 
 He was stoutly built, slightly bowed about the legs, 
 as most horsey men are, and with a quiet resolute face. 
 His hair was closely cut, and of a gingery hue, and he 
 had a slight fringe of whiskers, corresponding in colour 
 to his hair, on the edge of each cheek. He always 
 dressed very quietly, generally in a tweed suit of a sort 
 of snuff tint, and wore a white pique scarf with a 
 big diamond pin the gift of some grateful patron 
 blazing in the centre. 
 
 Just now there was an irritable expression on his rosy 
 gills as he walked from the big stable yard into the neat 
 garden w r hich surrounded his house, a plain, square, 
 uncompromising sort of building, dull brick with a 
 door in the centre, a window each side and three windows 
 upstairs. 
 
 The house had originally belonged to a farmer, and 
 was even uglier than it was now, for Mrs. Gumley 
 Peter's wife, having a fancy for flowers, had trained a 
 wisteria, a passion flower and a clematis over the front, 
 and this side of the building, at all events, was pleasant 
 to the eye. 
 
 Mrs. Gumley herself was standing within a little 
 latticed porch, which projected about a foot from the 
 door, and watched her husband enter the garden and 
 walk towards her down a neatly trimmed box-edge 
 path.
 
 io8 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " Well, Peter," said she, enquiringly. 
 
 " I'll have no more of it. I've given him a clout on 
 the ear and sent him packing. 
 
 " Oh, Peter, the best rider in the stable ! " 
 
 "And the worst boy the worst every way 'cepting 
 when his legs are across the saddle." 
 
 " I suppose it could not be helped," said Mrs. Gumley, 
 regretfully. She was a buxom, good-natured dame, 
 with rather a soft heart, and was at least ten years 
 younger than her husband. 
 
 " Be helped ! Of course it can't ! Look here, Mary, 
 this is the third time that boy has got drunk, and his 
 sixteenth birthday only last week." 
 
 " I know he's a little weak-minded, but I'd ha' given 
 him another chance if I'd been you." 
 
 " Chances ! " exclaimed the trainer irritably. " He's 
 had more chances than any boy I've ever had in the 
 stables. And as for his being weak-minded, why, 
 that only makes the thing worse. What's to prevent 
 him being laid hold of by any of the scheming black- 
 guards who are always on the look-out for a ' weak- 
 minded ' boy, and selling us ? A boy who begins by 
 drinking '11 end in hocussing." 
 
 " Oh, Peter ! I'm sure Tim would never do such a 
 dreadful thing ! " returned Mrs. Gumley, looking scared. 
 
 To her " hocussing " a racehorse was worse than 
 burglary, forgery, or arson. It ranked next to wilful 
 murder. 
 
 " Well, I hope not ; but see here who do you think 
 give him the drink ? " 
 
 " Law me ! how should I know ? " 
 
 " Barney Moss, that Jew chap, who's been stopping 
 at the ' Barley Mow ' for the past fortnight, and whom 
 I've seen hanging round the stables no end of times. 
 He's here for no good, Mary." 
 
 "That's true. Well, I'm sorry for Tim Hollis. Such 
 a nice looking boy, too ! " 
 
 "He's got a bad strain in him, take my word for
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 109 
 
 it. Anyhow, he's gone, and on the whole I think the 
 place is well rid of him." 
 
 And Peter Gumley stepped into the house and sat 
 down in the cool little sitting-room, where he took 
 off his hat and mopped his heated brow with a blue 
 bordered handkerchief. 
 
 It wasn't often that Peter Gumley allowed himself 
 to be so excited. To tell the truth, he had a sort of 
 sneaking liking for the erring Tim Hollis, and it put 
 him out terribly that the lad should have gone wrong. 
 But his duty was clear before him. Splendid rider as the 
 boy was, and fully acquainted as he might be with all 
 the ins and outs of the string of colts at present lodged 
 at Holberry Down Farm, it was not safe to keep him, 
 and go he must. 
 
 And go he did, and there he was, with a slouching 
 gait, in a dusty road that crossed the Downs into Norman- 
 hurst village, leaving so far as he knew Holberry Down 
 for ever. 
 
 He was rather a sturdy lad for a stable-boy, who is 
 generally undersized and wizened looking. He had 
 ruddy cheeks and a thick shock head of red hair. He 
 was, as Mrs. Gumley had said, a nice looking boy, 
 but to a judge of character the face was spoilt by a weak 
 mouth and chin, and somewhat heavy brows. The 
 features, indeed, were contradictory. They betokened 
 a mixture of obstinacy and irresolution. Tim Hollis's 
 life depended upon the people he associated with, and 
 upon those who had an influence over him for good 
 or for evil. 
 
 Just now he had a sullen look upon his face, and as 
 he moved slowly along, almost dragging one foot after 
 the other in the thick dust, his hands in his pockets, 
 and chewing a straw between his teeth, even good 
 Mrs. Gumley must have admitted there were few signs 
 of penitence and remorse about him. 
 
 It did not much matter where he went. He knew 
 he should find occupation wherever horses were, and
 
 no 
 
 so he did not trouble. Indeed, his mind was occupied 
 with thoughts of revenge, and when this feeling takes 
 possession of one there is not much room for anything 
 else. 
 
 " Peter Gumley might have treated me better, con- 
 sidering what I know. But then, Gumley doesn't know 
 what I know. He'd have done differently if he had ; 
 that cuff of the head what he give me stopped my mouth. 
 I'd ha' told him why Barney Moss made me tipsy 
 last night, if he'd spoke to me fair. Now I shan't. 
 
 Tim Hollis strode on moodily, and the straw in his 
 mouth became shorter as he nibbled bits and spat them 
 out of his mouth. 
 
 Another quarter of a mile and he would be on the 
 top of the downs and be looking over Normanhurst. 
 
 The downs rose by a very gentle inclination, but the 
 gradient of the old road years ago had been found too 
 steep for carriage traffic, and so a road had been cut 
 skirting the acclivity, and thus securing a fairly level 
 piece of driving. 
 
 Just where the fork of the upper and lower road 
 was situated, there was a grassy bank at the foot of 
 which bubbled a spring of clear water. It had been cut 
 into when the lower road was made, and there it was, 
 sending up hundreds of gallons a day which were running 
 to waste. 
 
 Tim was thirsty. He laid himself down on his 
 stomach, dipped his face in the bubbling spring, and 
 lapped the water like a dog. When he was satisfied 
 and had withdrawn his dripping face he saw a young 
 lady standing near watching him. She was nice to look 
 upon Tim at once decided, with her grey tailor made 
 costume, its short skirt revealing her leather gaiters, 
 and her masculine collar and flowing scarf, and as a 
 well brought up lad used to the fine ladies who crowded 
 the racecourse enclosures, lie sprang to his feet and 
 bowed politely. The lady smiled in acknowledgment. 
 
 " You drank the water as if you enjoyed it," said she.
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK in 
 
 " It's all right so fur as water can be right. I gue ss 
 I shan't have a chance of anything else for a goodish 
 time." 
 
 " Oh ? " 
 
 " Down on my luck, miss. I suppose yon don't 
 know of a job going anywhere ? " 
 
 " What kind of job ? " 
 
 " Anything to do with 'orses, don't matter what." 
 
 " You're used to horses, are you ? " 
 
 " Just a bit. Bin among 'em ever since I was a kid, 
 an' before that. I believe I was born in a stable." 
 
 The lady looked at the lad with increased interest. 
 She noted his old-looking, face, his long nose and his 
 thin lipped mouth. She knew the signs. 
 
 " Where were you employed ? " 
 
 " Up at old Peter Gumley's stables, Holberry Down, 
 across yonder. He gave me the push this morning. 
 The missus would ha' kept me on she's one o' the 
 best when you know her but the old man no. So 
 he fired me." 
 
 " What for ? " 
 
 " I dunno. He hadn't got no fault with me as far 
 as my dooties went." 
 
 " What did he find fault with, then ? " 
 
 " Said I lifted my right 'and too often. P'raps you 
 don't know what that means, miss." 
 
 " Oh, yes I do. And was it true ? " 
 
 " Once in a way maybe, but it warn't my fault." 
 
 " I hope it wasn't. You're too young to begin 
 that kind of thing." 
 
 She looked at the lad keenly. He had not a vicious 
 face. Most likely it was as he said. It seemed a pity 
 he should be allowed to drift from bad to worse. 
 
 " Look here, boy, I'm going to see Mr. Gumley. Shall 
 I speak to him for you, and ask him to take you back ? " 
 
 " Thank 'ee kindly Miss, but I'd rather you didn't. 
 I don't want to go back. It won't do me no good." 
 
 " How's that ? "
 
 112 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " 'Cause it won't. I ain't sorry to get away. I'd 
 rather work for you, miss." 
 
 " I can't give you a job that would suit you. I've 
 no horses." 
 
 " There might be something else." 
 
 " Do you know anything about gardening or poul- 
 try?" 
 
 " I guess I do. I'd like 'em for a change." 
 
 " You wouldn't stay. Before long you'd want to go 
 where there are horses." 
 
 " You might try me, miss." 
 
 " Yes, I might do that, but I won't promise. Do 
 you know the Owl's Nest near Weltersfield ? " 
 
 " Course I do, but there ain't anybody living there." 
 
 " Oh, yes there is. I am. Come this evening and 
 I'll see what I can do. Ask for Miss Vaughan. But 
 don't reckon upon anything for certain, mind." 
 
 " Right y'are, miss." . 
 
 The lad brightened visibly. 
 
 " What are you going to do meanwhile ? " 
 
 " Walk about I s'pose." 
 
 " Got any money ? " 
 
 " Stoney broke, miss." 
 
 " I wonder whether you are," thought Violetta. 
 " I'll chance it. I've been like that myself more than 
 once. It's not a nice sensation." 
 
 She gave him a shilling. Tim Hollis could hardly 
 believe his eyes. He spat upon it for luck. 
 
 " You are a good sort, miss." 
 
 Violetta nodded and went on her way to Holberry 
 Down. She had been at the Owl's Nest now nearly a 
 month and had worked like a nigger in getting the place 
 in order. She'd not seen Norman nor heard from him 
 since leaving The Willows. There hadn't been the 
 slightest difficulty in dealing with his lawyer, and she 
 had taken the place for three years. She half expected 
 Norman would have written to her on the settlement 
 of the business, but he had not, and she concluded that
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 113 
 
 after his astounding admission about his marriage, 
 he did not care to do so. 
 
 Of her own feelings on the matter she would not allow 
 herself to think. Every day meant such strenuous 
 work that she always went to bed dog tired. She was 
 wholly absorbed in transforming the Owl's Nest ac- 
 cording to her own ideas, and with the assistance of 
 a country woman, strong as a horse, and an old man 
 who came in every day she. wrought wonders. The 
 change from her indolent life of the past year to one 
 of intense activity suited her restless, energetic tem- 
 perament admirably and she wondered how she could 
 have endured frittering away her time at Monte Carlo. 
 Still, her stay there had ended advantageously. With- 
 out the 250 from the stranger for whom she had acted 
 as a mascotte and whom she set down as a " bookie," 
 she could not have started her enterprise at the Owl's 
 Nest. 
 
 What that enterprise was Violetta kept to herself, but 
 it certainly was not poultry farming. Her visit now 
 to Peter Gumley was to be the first step in the furtherance 
 of her plans. 
 
 She made her way to the square, unpretending house 
 of the trainer. It was surrounded by a well-kept 
 garden, and the whole was fenced off from the stables 
 and meadows. Any visitor to Peter Gumley who 
 imagined he would have an opportunity of seeing the 
 horses Peter had under his charge would have been 
 greviously disappointed. Moreover Peter had a 
 vigilant staff of stable helps part of whose duties it 
 was to keep pertinacious racing touts at bay. 
 
 Violetta knocked at the door. It was opened by 
 Mrs. Gumley, who was evidently not disposed to make 
 herself agreeable until she was sure of her ground. 
 
 " And what may you please want, miss ? " said she, 
 after surveying Violetta up and down. 
 
 " I want to see Mr. Gumley." 
 
 " Aye, an' what about may I ask ? I daresay I can
 
 H4 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 manage your business. It's just the same whether 
 you talk to my husband or to me." 
 
 Mrs. Gumley's manner was not encouraging. Violetta 
 reckoned her up as an admirable lady Cerberus and 
 worth her weight in gold to Peter. 
 
 " I'm sure it is," said Violetta, sweetly. " I'm a 
 new neighbour of yours, but I hope I'm none the worse 
 for that." 
 
 " A new neighbour ? Yes, and what then ? " 
 
 " My name's Vaughan. I'm living at the Owl's 
 Nest." 
 
 " Be you ? I did hear as Squire Norman had let the 
 place. So you're his tenant. I don't want to be 
 uncivil, but I can't see as your living at Owl's Nest 
 makes you any the more welcome. My husband and 
 Sir John bean't the best o' friends." 
 
 " Is that so ? I'm sorry. I feel I ought to apologise 
 for troubling you, but I'm rather interested in a lad 
 I met in the road just now. He told me he'd been in 
 your employ and had been dismissed, and he seemed 
 so downhearted that I was tempted to take him into 
 my service. Now could you recommend him ? " 
 
 This was not at all the business which had brought 
 Violetta to the house. She knew the secretive ways 
 of trainers, and saw in the boy an excuse for calling. 
 Otherwise her errand might have been fruitless. It 
 was a stroke of luck, for the mention of the lad awoke 
 Mrs. Gumley's sympathies. She was heartily sorry 
 for him. For all that, she did not lose her caution. 
 After what her husband had hinted about the boy, 
 she was not eager to accept any responsibility. At 
 the same time, she was anxious to do him a good turn. 
 
 " So far as I'm concerned, the boy's always behaved 
 nicely. I found him willing and obliging, but of late 
 he didn't get on well with the gov'nor. I'd rather 
 you talked to Mr. Gumley about him." 
 
 Violetta desired nothing better, but she showed no 
 eagerness. It was rather the other way about.
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 115 
 
 " Certainly if it's not taking up his time. Perhaps 
 he's busy." 
 
 " There's always plenty to do here, but I'll sec. Step 
 in, Miss Vaughan, and I'll see." 
 
 So Violetta followed the good lady into the neat 
 sitting-room, where everything was mathematically 
 arranged, even to the pictures of famous race horses 
 and jockeys and turf celebrities generally, on the walls. 
 Mrs. Gumley dusted a chair, more from force of habit 
 than because it needed dusting, and left her visitor 
 to herself. 
 
 Peter Gumley came in. Violetta recognised him 
 at once. He was the man she had seen in the meadow 
 when Norman's car frightened the horses. Mr. Gumley 
 saluted his visitor with his forefinger to his forehead. 
 
 " Mornin', young lady. My missus tells me as 
 you're thinking of engaging young Tim Hollis." 
 
 " If that's the name of the lad, yes. Is he honest ? " 
 
 " So fur as money goes, I b'lieve so. Not a bad chap 
 in some ways, but I'm afraid he's got into a queer set. 
 But if you don't run racehorses I guess that set won't 
 have much use for him. Mind you, it's only my sus- 
 picions. He drinks a bit, too, but he may give that up 
 if he once gets out with the lot that I'm afraid 's got hold 
 of him." 
 
 " But he knows horses ? " 
 
 " Knows a lot. That's where the shame of it comes 
 in. He's got all the makings in him of a first-rate 
 jockey." 
 
 " He might suit me, then. I think of buying a race 
 horse." 
 
 Peter Gumley stared at the young lady open-mouthed. 
 
 " You do, miss ? My word ! What for ? " 
 
 " To make money, of course." 
 
 ' You'll excuse me, but there's no ' of course.' 
 You're just as likely to lose money as to make it. It 
 wants a lot o' capital. If you must go in for the turf, 
 you might back a horse so long as you don't risk much,"
 
 ii6 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " I'm not so sure. I've heard it said that it's safer 
 to bet on a horse you know something about than on 
 one about which you know nothing. That's why I 
 say I prefer to own my own racer." 
 
 Peter had nothing to say to this. He could only 
 stare again at the young woman who spoke so con- 
 fidently. 
 
 " I wonder, Mr. Gumley, whether you knew my father, 
 Captain Vaughan, He opened a riding school near 
 Regents Park some eighteen years ago, and afterwards 
 ran a sporting club." 
 
 " Captain Vaughan ! What, are you Frank Vaughan's 
 little girl who used to ride a pony barebacked, when 
 little more than a toddler ? " 
 
 ' Yes, though I don't remember you, Mr. Gumley." 
 
 " I don't suppose you do. Well, let's shake hands 
 anyhow on the strength of it. And how's the dad ? " 
 
 " My father's dead, Mr. Gumley. He was thrown 
 when riding in a steeplechase in France. I warned 
 him against the horse he was on, but it was no good." 
 
 " I'll reckon it warn't. Frank Vaughan was bound 
 to have his way if he could get it. He was a rare plucked 
 'un at going over the sticks, but I told him again an' 
 again he'd do it once too often. Well, well. And so 
 you're going in for the gees, are you ? " 
 
 " In a small way, yes. I haven't too much coin, 
 but I thought you might have a horse I could buy. 
 Did Mrs. Gumley tell you I'm renting the Owl's Nest at 
 Weltersfield ? " 
 
 " Aye. It's not a lucky place leastways, it brought 
 no luck to Sir John Norman." 
 
 " He never lived there, I'm told, so I don't see what 
 it had to do with his bad luck." 
 
 " P'raps not. Sir John's all right so long as he's not 
 allowed to choose his own friends. He seems bent 
 upon picking up all the rotten ones. It was over one 
 of 'em we fell out George Godfree. He swore the 
 man was all right 'cause they were chums at Oxford.
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 117 
 
 I knew better, but he wouldn't believe me. As I 
 wouldn't work with Gentleman George Sir John took 
 his horses away from me, and came to grief." 
 
 " I've heard about that. It was very silly of him. 
 If I had a string of racers, Mr. Gumlcy, you should 
 train every one." 
 
 " Thankee, Miss Vaughan. I wish you had a string 
 of 'em." 
 
 " Well, there might be one," rejoined Violetta, in 
 her most seductive tone. " That is, if you've a horse 
 that the owner would sell." 
 
 " What figure are you willing to go to 1,000 ? " 
 
 " Good gracious, no. I'm not a millionaire yet. 
 I can't afford more than 100." 
 
 " Blest if that ain't a woman all over. She asks for 
 impossibilities, and has a way of getting 'em, too ! 
 You'd better have a look at my stables. If you're 
 as good a judge of horseflesh as you were a rider, you'll 
 pick out the best of the bunch. But it won't be a 
 deal at your price. I've nothing like that." 
 
 " Never mind, Mr. Gumley. It'll be a treat to see 
 what you've got, all the same." 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 VIOLETTA, THE HORSE TAMER 
 
 PETER led the way through the house. The back door 
 opened upon the stable yard, spick and span, almost 
 painfully clean. He called to a groom and the man 
 walked behind his master and supplemented when 
 necessary the description given by Peter to the visitor 
 of the pedigree and capabilities of each horse. 
 
 Violetta was at once on good terms with the animals.
 
 OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 She patted and caressed them, gave them sugar and 
 allowed them to touch her with their noses and satisfy 
 themselves that she was really their friend. Violetta 
 knew well enough how important to horses is the sense 
 of smell. 
 
 But the question of buying one, the owner of which 
 might be willing to part with, was a different matter. 
 The lowest price was 500 for a black marc, and Violetta 
 told Peter contemptuously she wouldn't have her at 
 a gift 
 
 " I dunno but what you're right," said the trainer. 
 " She might be the mother of a good horse, but she's 
 no good herself. I'm afeard, Miss Violetta, we can't 
 strike a bargain." 
 
 " I'll have to look out for a cab horse of good blood 
 and fast, but with a little vice which I should have to 
 cure him of," returned Violetta jestingly. 
 
 " I've heard of such wonders, but never see one. 
 Well, I suppose we'd better return to the house." 
 
 " What's in that farther stable ? Sounds like a 
 kicker." 
 
 At that moment came a violent thud against the 
 woodwork. 
 
 " Kicker's right. He's a beast. Can't do nothing 
 with him. If I could there wouldn't be a horse in the 
 stables as 'tid beat him." 
 
 " May I look at the brute ? " 
 
 The stable was the last of a series. The door was 
 the usual half one, and Violetta looked through the 
 upper open portion. 
 
 " Don't go too near, Miss," warned Peter. " There's 
 no knowing what he'll do when he's in a bad temper. 
 How's Belphegor been behaving this morning, 
 Simmons ? " 
 
 " A bit ratty, sir. Misses the boy, I reckon." 
 
 " That lad you think of taking on, Miss Vaughan, was 
 the only one in the place as could do anything with 
 him."
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 119 
 
 " RealJy ? What are you going to do now the boy's 
 gone ? " 
 
 " That's a bit of a puzzle. He hasn't been rubbed 
 down since yesterday morning, has he, Simmons ? " 
 
 " No, sir. Not any of us dursn't go nigh him. 
 Hasn't been out neither. We thought as there might 
 be a bother to get him in again. Sometimes he won't 
 look at his stable. Tim allays had to coax him and 
 sometimes it took him an hour." 
 
 Violetta stood silently watching the animal and 
 taking in his points. He was a light chestnut with 
 a white streak down his nose, a combination which 
 gave him a vicious aspect, which was probably added to 
 by the furtive look in his big eyes. He was not a 
 handsome horse, but was enormously developed in 
 all the muscles which make for speed and strength. 
 
 " He ought to be a good stayer," said Violetta. 
 
 " That's right, miss ; but who's to tell ? He's never 
 yet been fully extended. We did have one trial with 
 young Hollis on his back, and none of the others had 
 a look in. Even then he didn't show what he could do 
 when put to it." 
 
 Belphegor clearly didn't like the little crowd staring 
 at him. His ears were laid back, and his fore feet firmly 
 planted. Then he gave an impatient stamp, pawed 
 the ground, two or three times and wheeled round with 
 a nervous switching of the tail. 
 
 " Lend me your crop, Simmons," said Violetta. 
 
 The groom was holding a hunting crop, which he 
 handed over hesitatingly and with a glance at the 
 trainer. 
 
 " What are you going to do, Miss Vaughan ? " cried 
 Peter, as Violetta laid her hand on the bolt of the half 
 door and shot it back. 
 
 " Going into the stable," said she, smilingly. 
 
 " Not with my consent. I tell you straight you're 
 running a terrible risk. You don't know what the 
 beast is like."
 
 120 A QUEEN OF THE PADt>OCtf 
 
 " Exactly. I want to satisfy myself. It's a woman's 
 nature to be curious." 
 
 " That may be, and she sometimes suffers for it. 
 What about Bluebeard's wives ? " 
 
 " Bluebeard's wives don't concern me. I'm nobody's 
 wife." 
 
 By this time the bolt was drawn back, and before 
 Peter Gumley could prevent her, she was a couple of 
 feet inside the stable. The trainer and the groom 
 were about to follow her, but Violetta imperiously 
 waved them back. 
 
 " If you don't want me to come to harm you'll leave 
 me alone and stay outside." 
 
 " Mercy on us, you don't seem to care," cried the 
 trainer, adding to himself, " but she's right after all. 
 Well, well, good luck go with her." 
 
 So they waited wonderingly while Violetta advanced 
 another couple of paces, calling out softly to Simmons 
 as she did so to shut the door behind her and to keep 
 out of view. She strongly suspected that the horse 
 had his reasons for disliking the groom. 
 
 Violetta advanced no further, but stood still as a 
 statue while feeling in her pocket for sugar. She 
 knew quite well that whether with animals or birds 
 it is movement on the part of a human being which 
 startles them and excites their distrust. She had 
 tested the accuracy of this belief, so far as birds and 
 squirrels w*ere concerned, many times in Fontainbleu 
 forest and in the woods at Nice. 
 
 Belphegor condescended to look at her. Neither his 
 demeanour nor his attitude was quite so hostile. He 
 stamped his foot once or twice, but he did not bring 
 his hoof down so savagely as before. 
 
 " Come along, old chap " said Violetta, softly and 
 caressingly. 
 
 The horse was still suspicious, but he was, at the 
 same time, curious. He wanted to decide whether 
 she was a friend or an enemy. Had she moved, the
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 121 
 
 spell she had begun to exercise would have been broken. 
 She was in no hurry, and did not attempt to do more 
 than talk to the horse softly and soothingly. In about 
 a quarter of an hour Belphegor, his ears perfectly normal, 
 advanced slowly towards her. She waited quietly. 
 He rubbed his nose against her arm, and she patted 
 his neck and stroked his crest. It was a sort of massage 
 and evidently to Belphegor's taste. 
 
 Violetta did not believe in whispering some kind of 
 shibboleth in the horse's ear a performance which 
 some horse trainers used to go through, but in which 
 there is really nothing, so far as the shibboleth is con- 
 cerned. She whispered, it is true, but what she said 
 was much the same as before, just a few petting words, 
 and she breathed in his nose. Then came the sugar. 
 This completed the conquest. 
 
 Just to show she had quite won the affections of 
 the horse, she went on to coax him into the stall to 
 which she had been told he had at times a strong 
 objection, and of which a proof was pretty plain in 
 the shattered boards on one side. This she effected 
 by rubbing his side and flank with the handle end of a 
 hunting crop. He moved under the feel and pressure 
 of the crop in the direction she wanted, and at length 
 she had the satisfaction of seeing him in his stall quite 
 quiet and contented. He even allowed her to tie him 
 up. Then she returned to the door, the horse looking 
 after her. The whole operation had occupied about 
 an hour. 
 
 " By the lord, Miss Violetta, if you bean't a wonder," 
 cried the trainer. " What do you think o' that, 
 Simmons ? " 
 
 " I dunno what to think, master. If I hadn't seen 
 it I wouldn't ha' believed it. What about giving him 
 a rub down now he's in a good temper ? " 
 
 " Don't do anything of the kind," Violetta cut in 
 imperatively. " I wouldn't answer for his behaviour 
 with anybody but myself or with the lad you've got
 
 122 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 rid of. Leave him alone for a bit. Mr. Gumley, I'd 
 like to have a talk with you about Belphegor." 
 
 " It's just this," said she, when the}' were alone. 
 " I've a fancy for buying that horse. He's no good 
 to the owner as he is. None of your men can be trusted 
 to touch him, and he's only eating his head off. What 
 do you think would be a fair sum ? " 
 
 " I daresay I could get him for 150." 
 
 " Too much. A hundred's my figure." 
 
 " An' he stood me in at 550. Fact is, Miss Vaughan, 
 the brute's mine. He comes from a good stock 
 Mountebank, out o' Cutty Sark, and I bought him 
 a thinking as I could break him in. An' so I should 
 ha' done if that urchin Tim hadn't played me false. 
 Tell ye what, miss, you shall have him for 100 and 
 you give me 20 per cent, on all his winnings for the 
 next three years." 
 
 " Done, Mr. Gumley. Draw out a little memorandum 
 and I'll take away Belphegor at once." 
 
 " The devil you will. How are you going to do it ?" 
 
 " On his back, of course." 
 
 " Then I hope as your life's insured. I may tell 
 'ee it's all a job to saddle him." 
 
 " I expect so. Anyhow, I'll tackle it." 
 
 Peter wrote out a memorandum of the sale and its 
 conditions. Violetta, who had made up her mind 
 that she was going to buy something and had come 
 prepared, gave him a cheque and the transaction was 
 completed. 
 
 " Before we go any further, Mr. Gumley, just tell 
 me the real reason why you got rid of Tim Hollis and 
 what you mean by saying that he played you false ? " 
 
 " On the strict q.t, then, miss, I feel satisfied he's 
 been got at by a gang. Perhaps you don't know I've 
 the favourites for the Two Thou, and Derby in hand, 
 an' knowing what I do know, I've got to guard 'em 
 like the apple of my eye." 
 
 " Who's the leader of the gang George Godfree ? "
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 123 
 
 " Aye. You've hit it fust go." 
 
 "I've heard that Godfree was at the bottom of Sir 
 John Norman's losses. But wasn't there someone 
 else behind him ? " 
 
 " That's so. You know a lot, so I may as well speak 
 out. The man who pulled the wires was Dan Westoby. 
 I don't 'xactly know the rights of the story, but it 
 seems as Sir John Norman and Westoby quarrelled, 
 years ago. Sir John got the best of it, whatever it was 
 and Westoby swore to get his own back an' I guess 
 he did it. It's him as owns Normanhurst now." 
 
 " I understand," said Violetta drily. " I'm glad 
 you've told me this. By the way, don't let anybody 
 know you've sold Belphegor to me. Just for the time 
 being I shall lie low and watch the horse. No one 
 will suspect what I'm doing at the Owl's Nest. It's 
 about the last place in the world, I suppose, where one 
 would train a racer." 
 
 " You're right there. You may trust me and Simmons 
 too. You've made up your mind then to take on 
 young Tim ? " 
 
 " Yes. I can't do without him. What about saddling 
 Belphegor ? " 
 
 " You'd better have a snack o' lunch first. It may 
 take you an hour or more to saddle him, and you'll 
 want summat to work on." 
 
 Violetta agreed that the idea wasn't a bad one, and 
 shortly after she was sitting down with the trainer 
 and his wife before a cold Surrey chicken and a prime 
 Yorkshire ham. When the meal was finished, she 
 went back with Peter to the stables. She stipulated 
 that she was to be left to herself, and the trainer agreed. 
 He brought her a side saddle at which she laughed. 
 
 " That's no good. I wouldn't trust myself in a 
 woman's saddle on the back of a horse like Belphegor." 
 
 " What ! D'ye want a man's saddle ? " 
 
 " Certainly. Haven't I dressed myself for the part ? " 
 
 Peter Gurnley was a little old-fashioned in his notions.
 
 124 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 He knew perfectly well that riding straddle-legged was 
 coming into favour with horsewomen, but he did not 
 countenance it. However, he was not going to con- 
 tradict Violetta, who he could see was bound to do 
 as she liked, and with a shake of the head he brought 
 her a man's saddle, with which she went into the stable. 
 
 Belphcgor looked round at the sound of the door 
 opening, and at first showed signs of uneasiness, but 
 he must have recognised Violetta, for he let her come 
 quite close to him. She patted and rubbed his neck 
 and let him see the saddle and touch it with his nose 
 and smell it. She was not in the slightest hurry, and 
 every step to familiarise the animal with the saddle 
 was done with the greatest deliberation. Then she 
 patted his back, and in a way went through a form 
 of massage just where the saddle would rest, and in 
 due time when she judged the opportunity had come 
 she gently placed the saddle upon him. He did not 
 show the slightest objection, and cautiously she fastened 
 and tightened the girth but only by degrees. 
 
 Saddling had to be followed by putting on the bridle, 
 and this also was done without much trouble. The 
 next thing was to get the horse accustomed to the new 
 feeling, and with her arm resting on the saddle she 
 walked him slowly about the stable. It was over an 
 hour before she was sufficiently satisfied it was safe to 
 mount him, and the stable being of considerable height, 
 she was able to do this inside. 
 
 Then she called out to Peter to open the door, and 
 she rode out looking as gallant a horsewoman as one 
 could wish to see. The trainer was forced to express 
 his admiration. 
 
 " But lor, miss, there's some o' you women as looks 
 a picture, no matter what you do or wear, and I'm 
 danged if you're not one of 'em." 
 
 " Thank you, Mr. Gumley. You'll let me come 
 and see you again, won't you ? " 
 
 " Whenever you like, Miss Violetta. You'll always
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 125 
 
 be welcome. Besides, I shall be anxious to know how 
 Belphegor's behaving. If you goes on with him as 
 you've begun, I may make a bit of money. Who 
 knows ? " 
 
 " I hope so. But you'll have to come to the Owl's 
 Nest. I shall want to consult you." 
 
 " Right y'are. Only too pleased." 
 
 Violetta raised the whip she had borrowed in token 
 of farewell, and rode away at a gentle canter. The 
 horse moved with a delightfully easy free action, and 
 she could even fancy that he was pleased to get away 
 from the trainer's quarters. It was probable this was 
 so, for Violetta learned afterwards that nearly all the 
 men at the stables had had a go at taming Belphegor, 
 and the notions of the majority were based on cruelty 
 and fatigue to break the horse's spirit. These attempts 
 had been hopeless failures. 
 
 The journey to the Owl's Nest, not excepting the 
 broken winding ascending road to the house, was covered 
 without any mishap. The way was lonely, and out 
 of the beaten track, and nothing like a car or a motor 
 cycle was encountered. Despite her success, Violetta 
 was glad when she had Belphegor safely in the stable 
 she had had prepared for her first purchase. The horse 
 was still highly nervous, and she wanted him to get 
 thoroughly used to her before she would trust him 
 anywhere. 
 
 Violetta had a long rest, for her work with Belphegor 
 had been very exhausting. She was lying down in the 
 evening thinking over things when Mrs. Stubbles, the 
 brawny poultry maid, housemaid and cook, and " general 
 utility " domestic announced the arrival of a lad. 
 
 " Says, miss, as you told him to call." 
 
 " Quite right, Stubbles. Show him in here." 
 
 Directly she was alone, Violetta rose and placed a 
 chair near the standard floor lamp, so that the light 
 from the latter should fall upon it, and resumed her 
 recumbent position on the couch,
 
 126 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 Tim Hollis shuffled into the room in a shy, shambling 
 fashion, and stood awkwardly, cap in hand, his eyes 
 lost in wonder at the vision of beauty on the couch. 
 He hadn't ceased to think about her ever since she 
 spoke to him in the road. Provokingly charming as 
 she was in her semi-masculine attire, she was still more 
 so, though in a different way, now that she had gone 
 back to her woman's dress. 
 
 It amused Violetta and flattered her to see the lad's 
 confusion. 
 
 " Sit down, Tim," said she, pointing to the chair 
 under the lamp. 
 
 He obeyed, his freckled face reddening to the roots 
 of his hair. Where he was sitting she could study his 
 expression and tell whether he was speaking the truth. 
 
 " What have you been doing since I saw you ? " 
 said she. 
 
 " Nothing, miss." 
 
 " That's no answer. How have you been passing 
 the time ? " 
 
 " Walking about over the downs." 
 
 " Have you come across any of your friends I don't 
 mean any of Gumley's men. Friends from London. 
 Do you understand ? " 
 
 Tim did understand. He saw that the beautiful 
 lady knew something and was not to be taken in. His 
 colour fled, and he fingered the buttons on his jacket 
 nervously. 
 
 " I ain't got any friends in London," he mumbled. 
 
 " Look here, Tim, whether I take you on depends 
 upon you speaking the truth." 
 
 " It is the truth, miss, I'm a telling you, s'elp me. 
 I do know one or two chaps as live in London, but I 
 don't call 'em friends." 
 
 " They've given you money, haven't they ? " 
 
 " Just a bob or two." 
 
 " What for ? " 
 
 " Only for talking a bit."
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 127 
 
 " About Peter Gumley's horses ? " 
 
 " They was allays asking questions an' a bothering 
 me." 
 
 " You needn't have answered. You could have 
 told them to go to Jericho. Why did you give away 
 your master's secrets ? It wasn't playing the game " 
 
 " I know it warn't. Anyhow, I didn't tell 'em much." 
 
 " You oughtn't to have told anything. What w r as 
 your grudge against Mr Gumley ? " 
 
 Tim did not answer for a few seconds. Then he burst 
 out : 
 
 " He wouldn't let me have a chance with Bclphegor. 
 I told him as the horse was the best two-year-old going, 
 but he wouldn't trust me on him. He put Jack Parsons 
 up once and Jack was throwed like a shuttlecock and 
 broke his leg, and Jack's the best rider in the stables. 
 For all that, Jack rode him at the A. P. Spring Meeting 
 an' nigh pulled it off. I love that horse, miss. We're 
 like two pals, an' I wanted him at the top of the tree. 
 When I see as Peter was dead set against him I s'pose 
 I did have a drop now and again, an' it was then that 
 Barney Moss got at me. You can't drink for nothing 
 nowadays. P'raps Peter didn't tell you as he give me 
 the sack about two months ago and took me on again ? " 
 
 " No, he didn't. How was that ? " 
 
 " It was this way. I'd been a lifting the right arm 
 too much was a bit boozed, you know an' he said 
 he'd have no more of it an' off I went. Well, I got 
 worritted over Belphegor. I knew as he wouldn't get 
 his food property. None of the others durst go nigh 
 him, and so the next night I climbs over the fence to 
 look after him. He knowed me fast enough, and he 
 made a noise that woke up Simmons and afore I could 
 do a bunk I was collared, an' what d'ye think ? 
 accused of burgling ! " 
 
 " But surely you explained why were you in the 
 stables ? " 
 
 " Ra.-ther. Then Simmons, as hates me like pi-son,
 
 128 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 shifted his ground. He swore that if it wasn't burglary 
 I was getting at it was something worse tampering 
 with some of the horses. Old Peter wouldn't believe 
 it, of me, and when the missus stuck up for me and said 
 I'd done the right thing by Belphegor, he took me back. 
 But the rest of the stable was all against me. Things 
 went from bad to worse, and then I got kicked out for 
 good. I don't care so much about that. What's 
 bothering me is what'll become of Belphegor." 
 
 " I think I can help you there, Tim," said Violetta, 
 rising from the couch. " Come with me." 
 
 She was fully convinced that Tim had spoken the 
 truth, and she came to the conclusion that it was a 
 wonderful stroke of luck which had caused her to en- 
 counter him at the right moment. 
 
 Leading the way to the outbuildings she unhooked 
 a lantern, lighted it, and softly opened the stable door. 
 
 No sooner did Tim set eyes on the horse than he shook 
 from head to foot. 
 
 " T'aint him," Violetta heard him mutter. " Can't 
 be. Yet t'aint his ghost either. I dunno " 
 
 Belphegor had turned his head and had made a little 
 snorting sound that Tim knew well enough. The next 
 moment he was by the horse, his arms round its neck 
 and Belphegor was rubbing his nose against the lad's 
 sleeve. 
 
 Violetta never uttered a word. She understood Tim's 
 feelings and respected his emotion. Under similar 
 circumstances she would have acted in much the same 
 manner shed a tear or two. 
 
 " He knows me, he do. See, Miss ? " burst out Tim. 
 " But it beats me to find him here." 
 
 " I've bought Belphegor, Tim, and you can stay and 
 look after him so long as you behave yourself and are 
 true to me." 
 
 " True to you, miss. I'd fight for you to the last 
 drop o' my blood," said Tim, amid his blubbering. 
 
 " That's enough, Tim, I believe you. After you've
 
 I2Q 
 
 said all you want to say to Belphegor go to Mrs. Stubbles. 
 She'll look after you and give you some supper. Be 
 nice to her. She's one of the best. Perhaps you'd like 
 to have a shake down in the stable along with your pet." 
 
 " That I should, miss." 
 
 " Good. Then you know what to do." 
 
 And Violetta tripped away, leaving Tim in a state of 
 mind best described by his not knowing whether he 
 was on his head or his heels. 
 
 " FM YOUR WIFE, JACK " 
 
 WHILE Violetta was engrossed with her preparations 
 at the Owl's Nest Norman was eating his heart out over 
 his difficulties and chafing incessantly because he could 
 not see a way of escape, 
 
 Ella at times irritated him beyond endurance and 
 they were nearer bitter quarrels than they had been at 
 any time of their lives. When she was upset his sister 
 talked violently and at random, and when she criticised 
 Violetta, which she insisted upon doing, it was hard to 
 say whether she was pleased or annoyed at her visitor's 
 sudden departure. It seemed to Norman pretty certain 
 that friendship between the two women was at an end 
 and that there was little chance of a reconciliation. 
 
 But did this matter, seeing that he had bound himself 
 hand and foot by his fatal marriage with a woman of 
 doubtful reputation ? Looking back he could not 
 explain to himself how he came to be so foolish. But a 
 student of human nature knowing the circumstances and 
 acquainted with Norman's temperament and the skilled 
 devices which Christine had at her command to attract 
 men, would have had no difficulty in solving the problem. 
 
 J
 
 130 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 It was really a reaction from the enforced monotony of 
 years which had caused the poor man to shake off his 
 placid and uneventful country surroundings and plunge 
 into the feverish gaiety of smart society life in London. 
 This reaction had been brought about by the death of 
 his wife and the unaccustomed feeling of freedom which 
 had followed. 
 
 In nine cases out of ten the sowing of wild oats does 
 no lasting harm to a young man. They are generally 
 the effect of high spirits and exuberant vitality. In 
 youth everything in life is fresh and delightful, and 
 especially our follies. But in the thirties and forties 
 things are different. Women to middle-aged men are 
 not as they appear to men just past their adolescence. 
 Adonis in the insolence of his manhood will make love 
 to all women who come his way and throw them aside 
 with equal facility. And the marvel is that women 
 forgive his fickleness. But let him be past thirty. He 
 is less cruel and more constant than a young man ; he 
 takes himself seriously and, what is worse, women take 
 him seriously. " He's old enough to know his own 
 mind," is what they think, but is any man old enough 
 for this knowledge where a woman is concerned ? 
 
 The tragic part of the business is that often times a 
 middle-aged man, after imagining his mind is made up 
 and finding he is mistaken, has not the courage to tell 
 the woman so, and he drifts into a position from which 
 he discovers it is impossible to extricate himself without 
 appearing wholly in the wrong and horribly unjust and 
 unfair to the wife. 
 
 It is not the depraved or dissipated who blunder in 
 this way, but the man of honour, the man of good 
 intentions, and Sir John Norman answered to both. 
 In addition, whether from lack of experience or from 
 his own nature, Norman always believed the best of 
 everyone. So when he ran across George Godfree he 
 was genuinely glad to see him and looked charitably on 
 the fact that Godfree had been sent down from his
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 131 
 
 college under decidedly discreditable circumstances. He 
 Wasn't blind to Godfree's deterioration, but this made 
 him the more kindly disposed towards him. The last 
 thing he suspected was that the friend of his youth was 
 deliberately setting himself to work his ruin. 
 
 It was not that Godfree had any grudge against Nor- 
 man. Indeed, he would have preferred to " operate " 
 upon someone else, but the opportunity had come and 
 he justified his treachery by the argument that if ho 
 didn't feather his nest by plucking Norman somebody 
 else would. Godfree, in truth, belonged to that variety 
 of rascal who cannot come into contact with anybody 
 with more money than he knows what to do with than he 
 schemes to get it. Godfree, like hosts of others more 
 or less connected with the turf, lived on the capture of 
 " mugs." And he had not lunched and dined and gone 
 to night clubs of a more or less questionable character 
 with Norman half-a-dozen times before he decided that 
 his newly-found friend was a " mug " of the most 
 malleable type. Godfree had a soft job, and he made the 
 most of it with the aid of Christine Davenport, intro- 
 duced to Norman as a rich American widow. Her 
 wealth existed only in imagination, as Norman was 
 destined to discover. 
 
 It may at least be said in justice to Godfree that 
 Norman's marriage with Christine was not in his pro- 
 gramme. Mrs. Davenport, however, took the reins in 
 her own hands. Norman was dazzled, bewildered by 
 her fascinations, assisted by a round of riotous gaiety, 
 and woke up from his spell to find himself united to a 
 lady with expensive tastes and a mania for betting and 
 gambling, with no money of her own and bent only upon 
 spending her husband's. The result was inevitable. 
 When the crash came, and no more coin was forthcoming, 
 she disappeared. 
 
 One of the effects of Norman's disastrous experience 
 of life in London was to bring about an intense loathing 
 of everything connected with the turf. It was the turf
 
 132 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 which had led him to be the prey of Godfree and his 
 brother sharpers. Excepting for the turf he never 
 would have been the dupe of an unscrupulous woman 
 who promised to be a burden to him all her life, but so 
 long as she was quiet and did not trouble him he resolved 
 not to worry, and he tried to forget her existence. 
 
 Then Violetta came upon the scene. She had during 
 her visit to Normanhurst strongly impressed him and 
 he was only too pleased to renew the acquaintance at 
 Thameside. His relations with women had been very 
 unfortunate and he thought he saw in Violetta all that 
 was desirable and all that would compensate him for 
 his ill luck. And then the spectre of his wife intruded 
 itself. What was the use of indulging in dreams which 
 could never be realised while Christine was tied to him ? 
 The thought had never been absent from his mind while 
 enjoying Violetta's society, and when the spectre sud- 
 denly materialised and presented itself in flesh and blood 
 he felt overwhelmed and helpless. 
 
 There was, of course, one way out of the difficulty 
 divorce. He had discovered enough about Christine 
 to feel pretty sure that he would not have much difficulty 
 in getting evidence. But he dreaded the scandal. 
 He also dreaded the employment of a private detective, 
 the sordid details, the gossip of hotel servants and all 
 the rest of the miserable procedure. And supposing he 
 obtained freedom, what then ? Would it help him 
 to win Violetta ? Would she marry a man who had 
 made such an utter fool of himself ? 
 
 But in the meantime it was very plain that he must 
 find out what his wife intended. It could not be from 
 affection that she had sprung herself upon him. He 
 came to the conclusion that he must have a personal 
 interview with her. It was not safe to write. Besides, 
 what with I.O.U.'s the accepting of bills, deeds of 
 mortgage, loans and what not, he had had enough 
 of putting his name to paper. 
 
 The difficulty was solved by the reception of a tele-
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 133 
 
 gram. " Meet me at the Cafe Nice at one to-day, 
 Christine," it ran. Whether he liked it or not, he 
 would have to go. 
 
 The cafe was crowded. Looking to the right and left 
 he walked slowly along the gangway between the 
 narrow line of tables at the side and those in the centre. 
 He saw the lady sitting at the far end. She had reserved 
 a seat for him. His distaste for the interview was in- 
 creased by the way in which she was dressed. The 
 fashion was of the latest ; the colours terribly obtrusive. 
 He shuddered at the obvious way in which his wife 
 Ms wife had set herself to be looked at. She put 
 away the little mirror and the diminutive powder 
 puff when her eyes met his, and she greeted him with 
 a soft giggle which showed all her teeth. 
 
 " I was sure you'd come, dear boy. I'll leave you 
 to order our luricn. You always do it so nicely." 
 
 The " our " jarred upon him, as it was probably meant 
 to do. She had laid such emphasis upon the pronoun. 
 He made no reply, but glanced at the menu and had a 
 brief consultation with one of the ineffable beings who 
 always have smiles at their command. Christine was 
 evidently known at the Cafe* Nice. She chatted affably 
 to the ineffable one who having written down Norman's 
 order, transmitted it to one of his subordinates to 
 execute. 
 
 " What about an appetiser ? I'm drinking gin and 
 angostura. Have one with me just to show there's 
 no ill-feeling." 
 
 " No, thanks." 
 
 " How awfully uppish. Don't put me out. I've 
 come in the best of humours. I can soon be ratty if 
 you prefer it." 
 
 Norman hardly wanted telling. He judged it better 
 to order the aperitij. 
 
 " Don't you think I've been jolly good to let you 
 alone for a clear three weeks ? It's quite that since 
 I descended upon you at Thames-side."
 
 134 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " You were always very considerate. May I ask 
 the reason of your seeking me out ? You went off 
 without a word, six months ago, and if I remember 
 rightly you took all the money you could find in the 
 place." 
 
 " And precious little there was. It was a clean scoop, 
 anyhow, but I'd a right to it. I'm your wife, Jack." 
 
 " Jack " always sounded horrible on Christine's lips. 
 Norman winced. 
 
 " I don't forget the unhappy fact. But having gone, 
 why the deuce didn't you stay away ? " 
 
 " I suppose a wife has the right to see her husband 
 if she wants to." 
 
 " And apparently to leave him when the whim strikes 
 her." 
 
 " Well, yes, but a whim isn't always the cause. 
 Now " ' 
 
 Her reply was cut short by the waiter depositing 
 a dish on the table. Nothing was said for a minute 
 or two. The lady was blessed with a good appetite 
 and hors d'ceuvre, soup and filleted sole had disappeared 
 before she resumed the conversation. Norman ate 
 slowly and without any relish. 
 
 The question as to why his wife had run him to earth 
 was still unanswered. Now and again he glanced at 
 her and decided that handsome as she certainly was, 
 her features had coarsened and her figure had lost a 
 good deal of its elegance. He could guess the cause. 
 His brief experience of married life had told him that 
 champagne and liqueurs had for her too strong an 
 attraction. 
 
 Christine was the type of Barbara Villiers as repre- 
 sented by the free and flattering pencil of Lely. But her 
 luxuriant hair was of a golden hue too pronounced to 
 be natural and it was given the lie by her dark brows 
 and grey eyes. The contrast, however, was undeniably 
 attractive and wonderful piquancy was added to her 
 face, especially when she laughed, by what should have
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 135 
 
 been a defect, but which somehow was not. Her left 
 eyebrow was shorter, by nearly half an inch, than the 
 right. Whether this difference was born with her or 
 had been caused by accident was of no consequence. 
 There it was, and it made her face very distinctive. 
 
 She had chosen champagne, and a couple of glasses 
 brought a provoking sparkle to her eyes. 
 
 " Whatever my faults are, Jack dear, you must own 
 that I've always been frank with you. You were under 
 no delusions when you married me. You oughtn't to 
 have expected I could live otherwise than as I'd been 
 accustomed to. When you came to grief and the 
 supplies stopped I did the best thing for you and for 
 myself by disappearing." 
 
 " No doubt you were ready to look after your own 
 interests." 
 
 " And yours^too, you silly, if you'll only think. If 
 I'd stopped I was bound to run you into debt. As it is 
 you were saved no end of trouble and worry." 
 
 " Admitting that, do you intend to go on providing 
 for yourself ? " 
 
 " Yes, if you can't provide for me. We ought to 
 come to some understanding, don't you think ? " 
 
 " And it was for this understanding that you sought 
 me out ? " 
 
 " Well, partly." 
 
 Christine's cool impudence exasperated Norman almost 
 beyond endurance, but his equable temperament enabled 
 him to maintain his self-control. 
 
 " Are you entitled to any consideration ? You've 
 made no secret that you married me for what you 
 could get, and then, because my means were exhausted 
 thanks to you and your friends you ran away. You 
 must think me the biggest ass in creation if you expect 
 I'm going to allow you a single penny. To begin with, 
 it may interest you to know that if anything I'm worse 
 off than when you left me." 
 
 " Rats. You Johnnies can always find coin when
 
 136 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 you're put to it," rejoined the lady, contemptuously. 
 " Just listen to me. I'm not going to talk sentiment ; 
 I don't believe in it that kind of rot's dead nowadays 
 I mean business.'' 
 
 " Thanks. I prefer it so." 
 
 " You do ? " she returned hotly. " Then you shall 
 have it, I didn't take long to sum you up, John 
 Norman. You're a bit of a saint, you know. You're 
 awfully careful of what you call your reputation. It 
 would send a cold shiver through you to know you're 
 being talked about and called a fool. I know right 
 enough why you kept your marriage with me a secret. 
 You precious soon discovered that I wasn't the sort of 
 woman who'd get on with your sister. You could see 
 that I'd have the cold shoulder from your highly respect- 
 able friends, and so you held your tongue." 
 
 Christine spoke the truth, and Norman inwardly 
 winced. But he agreed with her that there should be 
 no sentiment between them and he steeled himself 
 against any exhibition of weakness. 
 
 " You, anyhow, didn't object to the secrecy." 
 
 " Not I. Half an hour of your set as your wife and 
 I should be bored to death. As for my crowd, why 
 should they care whether I was married or not ? 
 Marriage wouldn't make many of them any better than 
 they are. But to you, my dear chappie, marriage is 
 a sort of fetish you bow down to. To come to the point. 
 If you won't allow me a certain sum weekly, monthly, 
 quarterly, I don't care which why I must assert my 
 rights, that's all. I shall come back to you as your 
 wife, and if you refuse to receive me I shall apply for 
 restitution of conjugal rights. I don't know in the 
 least what it means, but my lawyer says it's the first 
 step." 
 
 " Does he ? I'm afraid you haven't told him all 
 the circumstances. You'd better go back to him and 
 explain that you ran away from me, and that if anybody 
 was entitled to those rights, it was myself. But I
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 137 
 
 don't intend to take any action in the matter. I don't 
 want you back and I won't have you." 
 
 Christine's eyes suddenly blazed, and her cheeks 
 became white, save where the artificial colour had been 
 applied. With her white tremulous lips she was fury 
 personified. 
 
 " So that you may console yourself with that bit 
 of a girl you took for a joy ride ! I understand." 
 
 " Indeed you don't. As for the " bit of a girl " I 
 refuse to discuss her with you, " rejoined Norman, 
 coldly. 
 
 " I'm not good enough, I suppose. Very well. I 
 shan't wait for the rubbishy conjugal rights, but shall 
 land myself on you whenever I think I will." 
 
 " That means war. I shall face whatever you choose 
 to do. You probably won't like your life for the past 
 six months dug up." 
 
 Norman's unexpected show of fight sent the lady 
 into another paroxysm of rage. Her shoulders quivered 
 and her foot beat a tattoo. It was very clear that in 
 spite of her protestations to the contrary, she was as 
 susceptible to sentiment as the majority of her sex. 
 Norman saw quite well that she was intensely jealous 
 and that hatred of Violetta was at the bottom of her 
 threatened campaign. 
 
 " My life," she burst out. " What about yours ? 
 Two can play at the game of divorce. You won't get 
 rid of me so easily as you think, my lad." 
 
 " Very well, do your worst. In the meantime, is 
 it worth while continuing this luncheon any further ? 
 I doubt if either you or I have any appetite left. Suppose 
 I call for the bill. Anyhow, don't let me interfere with 
 your arrangements. If you prefer to stay longer, pray 
 do." 
 
 " Thank you for your condescension. It would have 
 been more to the purpose if you'd ordered another half 
 bottle of champagne." 
 
 Norman shrugged his shoulders, beckoned to the
 
 13* A 
 
 waiter, told him to add the fresh wine to the bill and 
 bring the latter. The few minutes which elapsed before 
 this could be done were passed in utter silence. What- 
 ever might have been Christine's sensations, Norman's, 
 at all events, were anything but enviable. 
 
 The bill was paid, and with a formal bow Norman 
 was about to rise from the table when Christine motioned 
 him to stay. He complied, but remained standing. 
 
 " Just a word which I advise you to remember," 
 said she in rasping tones. " In one of our rows over 
 money you were complimentary enough to say you 
 hated women who betted. Is that your opinion now ? " 
 
 " Yes, stronger than ever." 
 
 " Have you asked your new love what has been her 
 experience in such matters ? " 
 
 "If by my ' new love ' you mean the lady you saw 
 at The Willows, I've already told you I refuse to discuss 
 her with you," he replied, his brow darkening. 
 
 " I've no desire to discuss her. I only want to tell 
 you that I saw her at the Alexandra Park Spring 
 meeting." 
 
 " What of that ? " 
 
 " Nothing, except that she wouldn't have been there 
 hobnobbing with ' bookies ' if she hadn't got a fancy 
 for a flutter. What would you say if I told you that 
 she backed one of Dan Westoby's horses at 35 to I. 
 and pulled it off ? Dan gave her the tip, of course." 
 
 " It's a lie," he burst out. 
 
 "Is it? You'd better ask her. That's all I've 
 got to say. Ta-ta." 
 
 Her lips curled derisively, and with a contemptuous 
 wave of her hand she threw him a kiss. He wheeled 
 round sharply, so that she could not see his face, and 
 walked rapidly out of the cafe with a sickening feeling 
 creeping over him.
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 13$ 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 " VlOLETTA MAY BE NO BETTER THAN CHRISTINE " 
 
 WHAT was Norman to think of Christine's words ? 
 Dan Westoby had sworn to ruin him, and he had suc- 
 ceeded, but surely it was improbable that he should 
 know Violetta, and equally improbable that she would 
 back horses. He could not recollect a single expression 
 of hers to justify such an assertion. It was all the 
 creation of Christine's malevolence and jealousy. No 
 one knew better than he that his wife had not the least 
 respect for truth when it suited her purpose to tell a 
 falsehood. He tried to brush the calumny aside, but 
 he found it difficult. 
 
 He crossed Piccadilly Circus and went down Waterloo 
 Place into St. James' Park. He walked about some 
 time in the quietude, hoping to calm his agitated nerves 
 and dispel his forebodings. In the first he succeeded ; 
 in the second he failed. 
 
 Norman had never been able to decide whether he 
 had acted wisely or foolishly in telling Violetta that 
 " Mrs. Willoughby Smythe " was his wife. Somehow, 
 the words slipped out before he could stop them, but 
 the confession had enabled him to say that he had 
 acted straightly towards Violetta. Henceforward she 
 would be under no illusions as to his position. On 
 the other hand, the revelation had completed the 
 history of his folly and he was afraid that so shrewd 
 a young woman must set him down as an utter fool. 
 
 This did not trouble him so much as the conviction 
 that he had burnt his boats so far as she was concerned, 
 and that he had nipped their dawning friendship in 
 the bud. As a man with a wife living, he must stand 
 in a totally different light from that which represented 
 him as a widower.
 
 140 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 He had thought much over this embarrassment. He 
 would have dearly liked to know Violetta's opinion 
 of him, but he had felt that to call upon her might 
 suggest an erroneous construction. Possibly he need 
 not have been so scrupulous. A man less emotional, 
 less given to introspection, and of a stronger mental 
 fibre, might not have thought twice about it. 
 
 But such a man would not have been in love, and 
 this made all the difference. It was really the key to 
 his present inaction. He had in his idle way often 
 dreamed of Violetta during the four years' separation 
 and the unlikelihood of realization had acted rather 
 as a provocative than a check. Gradually, however, 
 these dreams of idealistic happiness had become fewer, 
 and when his freedom came Violetta was but a memory. 
 He never thought to see her again. If ever they did 
 meet, in all probability she would be somebody else's 
 wife. 
 
 The unexpected had happened as it has a habit of 
 doing. When that meeting came about it was he who 
 had married. By contrast with Christine, Violetta 
 was perfection, and he was more than ever drawn 
 towards her. But what was the use of dwelling upon 
 the unattainable ? That way madness lay, so he tried 
 to discover a middle road in a sort of platonic love 
 generally another term for self-deception. 
 
 Norman was about the last man in the world who 
 could be trusted to try so hazardous an experiment. 
 He was not impersonal enough. He could not separate 
 himself and his emotions from anything that affected 
 him deeply. Love in the " aibstract," as Sidney Smith's 
 Scotch young lady termed it, was to him an impossibility, 
 and maybe it was to impose an insurmountable barrier 
 to his own feelings that he had confided to Violetta 
 he had a wife. 
 
 He went over all this again and again while pacing 
 the Mall. Christine and Violetta Violetta and 
 Christine they danced like puppets through his confused
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 141 
 
 brain, and it was some time before his thoughts settled 
 down into something like order. Violetta, he decided, 
 must for the moment be placed in the background. 
 While he was menaced by Christine he would never 
 have any peace of mind. She must be dealt with at 
 once, and, leaving the Mall at the St. James's Palace 
 end, he jumped into a taxi in St. James's Street, and 
 was set down at Gray's Inn. 
 
 Marlowe & Peach, of Gray's Inn Square, had been 
 the Normans' solicitors for three generations. There 
 were few family skeletons they could not take from 
 the japanned boxes in their sedate dimly-lighted office 
 with its panelled walls and long narrow windows. 
 
 Among these skeletons was Sir John Norman's foolish 
 marriage. He would have said nothing but for com- 
 plications with West End tradesmen arising out of 
 debts contracted by Christine in her husband's name. 
 So when he told Mr, Barlowe, a white-headed, spectacled, 
 solemn-looking old gentleman in private life a genial 
 soul with a partiality for old port that a divorce 
 was in his mind the lawyer was not surprised. 
 
 " I should imagine from what I know of the lady 
 that there won't be much difficulty in getting up a 
 case against her. But it may be an expensive business. 
 Private detectives are like sharks they'll swallow 
 all they can get. The worst of that profession is that 
 there's no check on their charges no standard of fees. 
 I regard the employment of private detectives as part 
 of the punishment following a breach of morals." 
 
 " That can't be helped," rejoined Norman. " I'm 
 desperately hard up you know that, Mr. Barlowe, 
 as well as, or better than I do but I must raise the 
 money somehow." 
 
 " Well, there's no immediate hurry. We can carry 
 on the preliminaries for a time and see how things turn 
 out. Supposing we find a co-respondent who's a man 
 of means, we might go in for damages. Unfortunately, 
 you can hardly say you've suffered material injury in
 
 142 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 her choosing to go her own way. The court might even 
 consider that you married her with your eyes open, and 
 that a good deal of what followed you might have 
 expected. You had more than arrived at the years of 
 discretion at the time of your marriage. No, I'm 
 afraid there's little hope of substantial damages. If 
 the worst comes to the worst, you'll have to sell the 
 last bit of unencumbered land you've got the Owl's 
 Nest." 
 
 " That would mean turning out Miss Vaughan," 
 Norman hastily put in. 
 
 " Not necessarily. It's true she's a quarterly tenant, 
 and a purchaser might think fit to put up her rent 
 at the end of her three years' agreement. You know 
 she's got the place dirt cheap, and but for your explicit 
 instructions we shouldn't have let her have it at 50 
 a year. It's worth 100 at least, and this is what 
 a new owner would probably want." 
 
 " Well, I shouldn't think of selling the place. It 
 would be a breach of faith." 
 
 " Would it ? Miss Vaughan, I take it, is a friend 
 of yours, Sir John ? " 
 
 " I hope so." 
 
 " She's a very charming young lady. I was struck 
 by her independent and original turn of mind. She's 
 one that a man who wanted a clever wife might easily 
 fall in love with. At the same time, I fancy she wouldn't 
 accept anyone who chanced to offer. She'd pick and 
 choose. Perhaps that's why she's still single. I gather 
 from what she said she's lived in France for some time." 
 
 " I believe so." 
 
 " Father's dead, she mentioned. I suppose he left 
 her some money." 
 
 " I haven't the slightest idea." 
 
 " Anyhow, she must have some. She's indulging in 
 rather expensive alterations, or additions, I believe 
 they are. Not usual for a quarterly tenant to spend 
 money for the benefit of the landlord."
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 143 
 
 " Miss Vaughan can do as she likes, I suppose," 
 rejoined Norman, a little tartly. " I gave her full 
 permission. I told her she could pull the house down 
 if she cared to do so." 
 
 " Oh, did you ? That was showing unusual confidence 
 in the lady." 
 
 Mr. Barlowe gazed penetratingly through his gleaming 
 spectacles at his client a second or two and then re- 
 marked irrelevantly as it seemed to Norman : 
 
 " I had a visit from your sister the other day about 
 some of her investments." 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " She enquired whether the Owl's Nest was still 
 vacant." 
 
 Norman looked suddenly uncomfortable beneath the 
 microscopic eye of the lawyer. 
 
 " Why did she want to know ? It's no affair of 
 hers," broke out Norman angrily. 
 
 "So I thought. I gave her a general answer. 
 Several people were after it I led her to believe." 
 
 " Thanks for your discretion, Mr. Barlowe. The 
 fact is Ella knows nothing about my having let the place 
 to Miss Vaughan." 
 
 " That was my impression. Now, Sir John, I want 
 to give you a word of caution. These divorce pro- 
 ceedings sometimes turn out quite differently from 
 what one expects. To be successful you must go into 
 court with absolutely clean hands. The King's 
 Proctor " 
 
 " Dash it all, Mr. Barlowe, what are you driving at. 
 Surely you're not insinuating. " 
 
 " I'm not. It isn't my fashion to insinuate. I find 
 it better to speak plainly. What I wish you to under- 
 stand is that if there is anything between you and this 
 extremely attractive young lady " 
 
 " Well, there isn't. You may take my solemn word 
 of honour." 
 
 " I do. But this is where the point comes in you
 
 144 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 mustn't act as if there was. Circumstances, harmless 
 situations, words, can be so twisted as to make white 
 appear black. It is to the interest of the King's Proctor 
 and his agents to bring about this twist. You evidently 
 take a great interest in Miss Vaughan. While these 
 proceedings are pending, I should advise you to give 
 the Owl's Nest a wide berth." 
 
 " I've not been near the place sirice Miss Vaughan 
 took up her quarters there." 
 
 " So much the better. You've begun rather un- 
 fortunately by not saying anything about Miss Vaughan 
 to your sister." 
 
 " There were reasons why I shouldn't, since we had 
 already had a quarrel about her." 
 
 " Indeed ? Perhaps you'd better tell me all about it. 
 I mustn't be kept in the dark you know, and have a 
 surprise sprung upon me." 
 
 Norman had no alternative but to go over the story 
 of the alleged "joy ride " and of the unlucky encounter 
 the same evening with his wife, not forgetting the 
 assertion of the latter a few hours previous that she had 
 recognised Violetta as having been at the Alexandra 
 Park races. 
 
 " I told her she lied," concluded Norman, " but you 
 see she has grounds for making herself unpleasant." 
 
 " Deucedly unpleasant," said the lawyer gravely. 
 "If, as you say, Miss Vaughan is nothing to you, why 
 not tell your sister she is your tenant ? It would save 
 disagreeable inuendoes being drawn." 
 
 " I daresay it would, but I know Ella and you don't. 
 If I opened my mouth to her, the first thing she'd do 
 would be to go to the Owl's Nest and there'd be a 
 precious shindy between the two women. Besides, 
 I promised Miss Vaughan I shouldn't let Ella know." 
 
 Mr. Barlowe shrugged his shoulders and took a 
 pinch of snuff. 
 
 " Well, we must hope for the best. While we're 
 making enquiries about Lady Norman you must lie
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 145 
 
 low. No visits to Miss Vaughan that would be ab- 
 solutely fatal. Not even a letter." 
 
 Norman went away with the lawyer's warning in 
 his ears, by no means comfortable, it seemed to him 
 he was in a cleft stick, for the very steps he was taking 
 to get rid of his matrimonial burden were increasing 
 the obstacles in the way of his cementing his friendship 
 with Violetta Vaughan. 
 
 But one thing was paramount. He must free himself 
 from his matrimonial shackles. 
 
 He had not much faith in Mr. Barlowe when it came 
 to a descent into the sordid and tortuous ways of life's 
 underworld. Spying out the antecedents of a lady 
 meant wholesale bribery, listening at keyholes, so to 
 speak, interviewing servants, always the source of 
 gossip and scandal, Mr. Barlowe was far too respectable 
 for this sort of thing. He always fought shy of criminal 
 business and police courts generally, 
 
 " I hate doing it, but there's no other way," thought 
 Norman. " I'll have to employ some of the gentry 
 who dignify themselves by the name of private enquiry 
 agents." 
 
 Of course, ke knew none, and it was doubtful if Mr. 
 Barlowe knew any either, but he wasn't going to test 
 the old solicitor's knowledge of the seamy side of London 
 life. He was quite sure that Barlowe would discoun- 
 tenance his contemplated action. 
 
 Meanwhile, he had strolled back to Piccadilly Circus. 
 He was so absorbed that he hardly knew where he was 
 going, and when he discovered where his wandering 
 steps had borne him he paused. 
 
 It was far too near the Cafe Nice. For all he knew 
 he might run against his wife, and this was about the 
 last thing he desired. He turned into that somewhat 
 grimy and uninteresting thoroughfare Sherwood Street, 
 but this led to no place in which he was interested. 
 Then it suddenly occurred to him that the Bodega in 
 Glasshouse Street would help him.
 
 146 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 In his racketty period of married life with Christine 
 the Bodega was one of his houses of call. He had got 
 to a nodding acquaintance with some of the miscellaneous 
 crowd who foregather in the various resorts of the 
 establishment. 
 
 " I'll swear I'll get the information I want out of 
 one of the seedy bounders who were always so ready 
 to drink at my expense," he thought. 
 
 Hanging about the door of the Bodega was a shabby, 
 unshorn nondescript whose red nose and pallid cheeks 
 betrayed his besetting passion. He was selling matches 
 and he held out a box to Norman as the latter was 
 brushing past. 
 
 " If it's not taking a liberty, Sir John," said the man 
 apologetically, and with a finger to his greasy bowler, 
 " may I ask you to buy a box ? I've come down a bit 
 since you used to tip me for fetching you taxis." 
 
 " Oh ? I don't recollect you." 
 
 " Course you don't, sir. I'm Alf Richards. I did 
 a bit o' touting for you and Mr. Godfree. I was useful 
 then picking up news from the stable about the cracks." 
 
 " I think I've a glimmering of a remembrance of 
 your face. Things haven't gone well with you." 
 
 " Bally bad, sir." 
 
 Norman pulled out a shilling. Mr. Richards accepted 
 it gratefully, and his watery eyes became still more 
 watery. 
 
 " By the way, Richards," said Norman, " I wonder 
 whether you can help me in a little matter." 
 
 " Only too pleased. Don't often get a job nowadays." 
 
 " Well, it isn't what you may call a job. I want to 
 get on the track of a certain person, and I thought 
 of employing a private detective. Do you know of 
 anybody who does that kind of thing ? " 
 
 " You've come to the very shop, Sir John. I've done 
 a good deal in that line myself." 
 
 Norman looked very doubtful. Alf Richards was 
 such a disreputable person in his appearance. His
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 147 
 
 speech and manner, however, were the reverse. At 
 some time of his life he must have mixed in fairly decent 
 society. 
 
 But Norman hesitated. Christine was certain to go 
 her own way, restitution of conjugal rights notwith- 
 standing. She passed her time chiefly at swell 
 restaurants. Alf Richards was hardly the man who 
 could shadow her at fashionable haunts. He hinted at 
 something of the kind. 
 
 " Well, that's true, sir, but there was a time when 
 I knew them all ; ah, and the waiters looked after me, 
 too. I always gave them good tips. Put me in a 
 decent suit and I don't think I'd disgrace you. It 
 would cost you less than if you went to a professional firm. 
 They'd run you up a big bill before you could say 
 knife." 
 
 " Can I trust you ? " 
 
 " Give me a chance. Do you suppose I like this 
 kind of life ? Maybe I do go in too much for the cheerful 
 glass, but what would you expect ? It's the only 
 pleasure I get. If I was sure of a regular sum per week 
 I shouldn't want much I'd keep myself straight 
 and not disgrace you." 
 
 Norman's good nature and his capacity for believing 
 the best of everyone came to the rescue of Alf Richards. 
 
 " We'll go downstairs and talk over the matter," 
 said he. 
 
 " I'm not fit company for you, sir, as I am," hesitated 
 Richards. 
 
 " Oh, hang that. Come along." 
 
 They descended into the Bodega's lower regions and 
 Norman ordered drinks. Then he explained what he 
 wanted. 
 
 " I don't see much difficulty, sir," said Richards. 
 " Mrs. Davenport isn't quite unknown to me. I've seen 
 her lots o' times on the race course." 
 
 " No doubt. Well, the first thing you'll have to do 
 is to make yourself fairly decent. Suppose you get
 
 148 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 yourself a rig out. Here's a 10 note. I daresay 
 you know how to lay it out to the best advantage." 
 
 " I guess I do, sir." 
 
 Alf Richards handled the flimsy piece of paper Norman 
 gave him as though it were a priceless treasure. His 
 eyes glistened and he folded it up with the greatest 
 care. 
 
 " Now you won't let me down, I hope," said Norman. 
 " It's a vital matter to me." 
 
 " I understand, sir. I'll do my best and if there's 
 anything to be found out I'll have it. I've had to 
 worm myself into the secrets of many a racing stable 
 before now, and if I chose to open my mouth well 
 that kind of thing wants a bit of doing. T'other 's 
 child's play." 
 
 Mr. Richards drew a long breath and winked. The 
 drink had oiled his tongue, to say nothing of the sight 
 of the tenner and he plunged into a series of reminis- 
 cences to which Norman listened languidly. 
 
 Suddenly he heard Richards mention the name of 
 " Captain Vaughan," and he pricked up his ears. He 
 had Violetta in his mind at that moment. Her father, 
 as he knew very well, was Captain Vaughan. It might 
 be only a coincidence that Richards should also know 
 a Captain Vaughan, but it interested him, all the same. 
 
 " What Captain Vaughan are you talking about ? " 
 
 " Why, Captain Vaughan who ran the Beak Street 
 Sporting Club. One of the best. I was awfully sorry 
 to hear of him coming to grief over the sticks. He ought 
 not to have tried that fun at his age. But if he'd 
 made up his mind to do a thing he'd do it, and the 
 devil take the consequence. His handsome daughter 
 takes after him." 
 
 Norman stared at the man, and hardly dared to ask 
 him any more questions. But the impulse was too 
 strong." 
 
 " Do you know his daughter ? " said he in a voice of 
 suppressed excitement,
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 149 
 
 " Miss Violetta Vaughan ? I should think I do. 
 A clever girl and, like her dad, one of the best. The 
 way she managed the canteen and kept the boys in 
 order was a marvel." 
 
 Norman felt a sinking at the heart. There could be 
 no doubt that Alf Richards was speaking the truth. 
 But Violetta, the manageress of a drinking bar at a 
 sporting club ! The idea was horrible. 
 
 " What's become of her ? " he ventured to say, 
 putting on an air of indifference. 
 
 " Oh, I fancy she's tumbled on her feet. The club 
 went smash and she went off with the Captain to France. 
 What they did there I don't quite know, but it was 
 something to do with the turf." 
 
 " Have you seen her since her return from France ? " 
 
 " Once. It was quite by chance. At the A. P. Easter 
 meeting. She was all there, I can tell you." 
 
 " All there ? What the devil do you mean by ' all 
 there ' ? " 
 
 " Why, making a book, of course. She pulled off 
 a real good thing. Backed " Daughter of the Mist " 
 at thirty-five to one and scooped. I made fifteen quid 
 thanks to her tip. She must have known something, 
 though she swore well, she didn't swear, she's too 
 much of a lady she didn't." 
 
 " Are you sure you're right ? You're not telling me 
 a fairy tale just to make out how clever you are ? " 
 gasped Norman. 
 
 " Not likely. Why should I ? It's all gospel truth, 
 and if I didn't know how lucky she was in the old days 
 in spotting winners, I wouldn't have believed it myself. 
 You see, ' Daughter of the Mist ' is one of Dan Westoby's 
 horses, and Dan and his gang were up to some tricks 
 over her. It was their game to work long odds and, by 
 thunder, they brought if off though the filly was nearly 
 beaten at the post. I don't understand how Miss 
 Vaughan got to know, unless she was in with Westoby's 
 boys. But that's impossible."
 
 150 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 The more revelations Richards unfolded the worse 
 the thing became. Norman could listen to nothing 
 further. He sat still as a statue staring into space. 
 
 " When I find out anything about Mrs. Davenport 
 how shall I let you know ? " said Richards, breaking 
 the silence. 
 
 " Mrs. Davenport," repeated Norman, blankly. 
 
 " Yes. That was her name, you said." 
 
 " Oh, of course," rejoined the baronet, rousing himself. 
 " Write to the Corinthian Club, Coventry Street." 
 
 " All right, sir. I won't lose a minute. Any other 
 instructions ? " 
 
 " No. You know what to do." 
 
 Norman rose abruptly. He was overwhelmed by 
 what he had heard. He nodded to Richards and strode 
 out, feeling like a rnan who had awakened out of a 
 pleasant dream. He was at that moment incapable of 
 coherent thought, and it was not until he had to face 
 the busy traffic of Regent Street that he got back to 
 stern reality. 
 
 " So Christine was right," he muttered. " It's appall- 
 ing what women can do in the way of deception. For 
 anything that I know, Violetta may be no better than 
 Christine ! " 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 How A MAN LOOKS AT IT 
 
 VIOLETTA, Belphegor, and Tim Hollis before long 
 became the best of friends. It wanted a little patience 
 so far as the horse was concerned for his temper had been 
 thoroughly spoilt by bad usage and the stupidity of 
 some of the grooms in Peter Gumley's stables, and 
 possibly by those who had had the training of him 
 when a yearling and before he came into Peter's posses-
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 151 
 
 sion. The animal was naturally highly nervous and 
 had been made more so, thanks to being continually 
 thwarted and thrashed. At the sight of a riding whip 
 he either became rebellious or shrank from it according 
 to his mood. 
 
 " Well, what do you think of him now, Tim ? " said 
 his mistress, " Good enough for the Two Thousand ? " 
 
 " Oh, he's good enough so far as his legs go," returned 
 Tim cautiously, " it's when he comes to mix up with 
 the other gees that he mayn't be trusted. You see 
 Miss, ever since I knowed him he's had a fancy for 
 hugging his horses. It always wanted a bit o' doing to 
 get him to break away and show what he could do by 
 himself. Do you understand what I mean, Miss ? " 
 
 " Perfectly, Tim. But that was in the bad old days. 
 I shouldn't be surprised if he hadn't felt a sort of pro- 
 tection in the company of his own kind. I believe 
 horses are very much like human beings you and me 
 for instance." 
 
 " That's what I believe, too, Miss," returned Tim, 
 touching his forelock quite pleased at Violetta classing 
 him with herself. 
 
 Belphegor had been brought out to show his paces 
 and had just done a sprint of a quarter of a mile under 
 Tim's skilful jockeying. The lad had extended him 
 fully, short as the distance was. The horse was now 
 standing as quiet as a lamb with a cloth thrown over 
 his back. He certainly was in superb condition, and 
 somehow did not look so ugly as when Violetta saw hirn 
 on the A. P. course. 
 
 " I bed your pardon, Miss, for a sayin' what's in my 
 mind," went on Tim with an apologetic cough. 
 
 " Say anything you please, my lad, I don't mind." 
 
 " That's what 1 like about you, Miss Violetta. You 
 don't snub me as Peter an' his lot was always doin'. 
 Not much good then my trying to have a say. I was 
 told to shut up an' mind my own business. As if 'orses 
 wasn't my business. Oh, good lor ! "
 
 152 A QUEEN OF THE HADDOCK 
 
 " Well, you're not at Peter's now so get a move on 
 with what you were going to tell me." 
 
 " It was just this. You'll have to train Belphegor 
 with other 'orses. He'll only show what he can do when 
 he's runnin' against them. A thing as is easy he don't 
 care for." 
 
 Violetta tapped her riding boots thoughtfully with her 
 whip. She looked a very attractive picture in her 
 masculine dress, and the regular hours, the out door life, 
 and the bracing air of the Owl's Nest with its elevated 
 position, had given her cheeks a glow of health she had 
 never had before. 
 
 " Well, what do you suggest," said she presently. 
 
 " Buy a couple more gees, Miss." 
 
 Violetta laughed. 
 
 " Gees cost money. Can't be done. Think of some- 
 thing else." 
 
 But Tim couldn't. He was only able to scrape the 
 sole of one boot on the upper of the other. 
 
 " I suppose I must think of something for you. What 
 about taking him back to Peter Gumley ? " 
 
 Tim's face fell. 
 
 " What, sell him ? Ain't you satisfied with me ? 
 I've done my best with Belphegor, s'truth, an' the 'orse 
 knows I have." 
 
 " Don't look so distressed, Tim," said Violetta gravely. 
 " You're all right, and so is Belphegor. But I'm think- 
 ing if Peter Gumley saw him now and saw you as well 
 that he'd alter his mind about you both. Peter's not a 
 bad sort." 
 
 " I never said he was. It's that beast Parsons, his 
 stud groom, as I could never get on with." 
 
 " That's so. Well, I've reason to know that Parsons 
 has been fired. He was found out robbing his master 
 altering the corn bills and so on. Things are not quite 
 the same at Holberry Down as they were when you were 
 there. I had a talk with Mr. Gumley the other day, and 
 I put out a feeler after I told hira how straight you'd
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 153 
 
 been running. The fact is he'd be very glad to have 
 you back." 
 
 " Well, Miss, I'm not goin'. I'd rather stay here 
 that's if you'll keep me on." 
 
 " It's this way. It's for the sake of Belphegor that I 
 think you ought to go to Holberry Down you and the 
 horse too. He can't get the proper training here. The 
 ground's not suitable. What's the good of a quarter of 
 a mile or even half a mile to a great brute like Belphegor ? 
 Why he only gets fairly into his stride when he's a 
 couple of hundred yards from the winning post. You 
 said yourself he wasn't being done justice to as he is." 
 
 " Yes but " 
 
 Tim shuffled his feet again and looked down at his toes. 
 
 " Well, what is it ? What's your objection ? " 
 
 " I know it 'ud be a good thing for Belphegor so long 
 as I was with him, but well it's myself I've got in mind. 
 I'm a bit af eared of the crowd at the Barley Mow. 
 Barney Moss 'ud be hanging about again if he once heard 
 I was back at Peter's." 
 
 " Then you mustn't go near the Barley Mow. Promise 
 me that." 
 
 " Of course I will. I only hope as I'll be able to keep 
 my promise. I'll try, Heaven help me. I will try," 
 burst out Tim passionately. 
 
 " I'm sure you will. I'll ride over to Mr. Gumley's 
 this afternoon and fix the thing up somehow." 
 
 Belphegor was not the only occupant of the Owl's 
 Nest stables. Some time after the purchase of the horse 
 Violetta bought a beautiful pony from a local butcher. 
 The latter had not long had the pony in his possession, 
 and he had found it did not suit him or rather his man. 
 The creature was skittish and capricious, had bolted 
 twice, and on the second occasion had kicked the bottom 
 out of the cart and sent the joints flying. The butcher 
 was afraid to trust it, and he sold it to Violetta cheaply. 
 
 Violetta was delighted to have him, and he was soon 
 a great pet.
 
 She lost no time in opening the business which had 
 brought her to Hoi berry Down, and Peter listened to 
 what she had to say attentively and even approvingly. 
 
 " You know, Mr. Gumley, you're as much interested 
 in Belphegor as 1 am," said she. " Whatever stake he 
 pulls off you'll have a share of. That's agreed between 
 us, isn't it ? " 
 
 " Yes, I haven't forgotten, and I'd like to see him do 
 some real good work. But as you say, I must have his 
 training under my own eye. I'm not going to have the 
 A. P. show over again." 
 
 " Very well, that's what you won't have if you agree 
 to what I propose. Tim must come with him. That's 
 a dead cert." 
 
 Peter looked grave and fingered his chin. 
 
 " I swore I'd never take the young beggar back." 
 
 " Very likely. But what's an oath more or less, 
 especially where horses are concerned. I'm quite sure 
 there are more lies told and more oaths used on the turf 
 than anywhere else in the world." 
 
 " Well, that's a fact, Miss Violetta." 
 
 " Of course it is. Now, Tim's a reformed character." 
 
 " If he is, he has to thank you for it." 
 
 " No, I've just treated him decently and trusted to 
 his word. I've come to the conclusion that his dis- 
 position's very like that of Belphegor. Both must be 
 allowed to go their own road to a certain extent. I 
 confess that I'm built much on the same lines. We may 
 be led, but we won't be driven." 
 
 " I'm not going to contradict you, Miss. But about 
 Tim what I fear is the Barley Mow. Nothing but touts 
 there." 
 
 " I know, and I may tell you that the lad's as much 
 afraid of the Barley Mow as you are. He's given me his 
 word of honour that he'll never go near the place." 
 
 " Yes, that may be, and I don't doubt as he'll try to 
 keep his word. But you don't know what a damned 
 erafty crew get there. The landlord's as bad as any of
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 155 
 
 'em. He's a tenant of Dan Westoby's, and I'll go bail 
 that the two are hand in glove. The only safe thing is 
 to keep the matter quiet. Not a soul must know that 
 I've got the two here." 
 
 " Well, that can be done I guess. Your men arc used 
 to keeping secrets, aren't they. Can you trust them ? " 
 
 " I can now. I couldn't three months ago, but I've 
 weeded out the splitters, and I've got a decent lot now. 
 It all depends upon Tim himself." 
 
 " And I'll answer for him. He's only to know what's 
 expected from him and I'm convinced he'll act up to it." 
 
 " I hope he will. Well, we must risk it, I guess." 
 
 " That's right. Now about Belphegor. Can he be 
 entered for the Two Thousand ? " 
 
 "No. The day's too near. There isn't time to get 
 him into his best form, and I must know what he's like 
 before we think of him as a Derby runner. But the 
 Two Thousand's no good. Besides, I'm fixed on 
 Killarney. He's one of Lord Verschoyle's string, and 
 his lordship's backed him for all he's worth. I must 
 keep faith with Lord Frederick, who's a real gentleman. 
 
 " So I've heard. Righto. Then we'll drop the Two 
 Thou. Now when will you come and have a look at 
 Belphegor ? I shall be much surprised if you don't say 
 that Tim has worked wonders." 
 
 " So much the better, but I'll wager that you've had 
 a hand in that same too. Begorrah ! I shall never 
 forget that lesson in horse training you gave my chaps. 
 They still talk about it." 
 
 " Only a matter of common sense and a bit of humanity 
 Peter. Nothing more." 
 
 " Whatever it was it did the trick. Well I'll run over 
 to the Owl's Nest to-morrow evening." 
 
 So the matter was arranged. The trainer presented 
 himself as he promised, and when it was dark Belphegor 
 and Tim were transferred to Holberry Down and Gum- 
 ley's staff was sworn to secrecy. 
 
 There was every probability of the secret being kept
 
 156 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 for all the men and boys who had been on bad terms 
 with the lad had been dismissed. 
 
 But when the two had departed Violetta felt strangely 
 desolate. It was as though her occupation was gone, 
 and it wasn't strange that in the vacuity of mind which 
 followed that her thoughts should drift back to John 
 Norman. 
 
 " Don't be a fool," said she to herseif. " You know 
 you're not in love with the man, and if you were what 
 would be the good. One woman's made a fool of him, 
 and it would be an act of cruelty to add to his com- 
 plications by another woman coming on the scene. 
 Besides, he's a stupid. He simply drifts." 
 
 Quite so, but a drifting man is very often an object of 
 interest to an energetic woman. Violetta tried to 
 banish John Norman from her mind but she found the 
 effort very difficult. 
 
 She felt rather annoyed that he had not written to her 
 and angry with herself because she was annoyed. Yet 
 on reasoning the thing out his silence was quite ex- 
 cusable. After his confession of folly he probably had 
 regretted his outburst of confidence. No doubt his 
 conduct, in so doing, was perfectly proper, but it was 
 really putting a barrier in front of their future friend- 
 ship. 
 
 " I suppose that's how a man would look at it," she 
 mused. " A woman doesn't take the same view. When 
 a man admits to one woman what a fool he has made of 
 himself over another it's a sort of tribute to the superi- 
 ority of the woman to whom the admission is made." 
 
 There was something in this argument. The annals 
 of crime abound with examples. Men after perpetrating 
 some offence, whether robbing or violence, are restless 
 and unhappy until they have made some woman their 
 confidant. The police know this full well, and they are 
 quick to take advantage of it. Even Mr. Charles Peace, 
 silent and solitary worker though he prided himself on 
 being, was not proof against the weakness.
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 157 
 
 But Violetta was not concerned about solving sexual 
 problems of this kind. She did not pursue the subject, 
 and as the stables no longer possessed anything of 
 interest for her she sat down to the piano to drive away 
 her thoughts by grappling with the intricacies of Bach. 
 
 A fortnight went over and she missed the peculiarities 
 of Belphegor, which she was never tired of studying, and 
 the shrewd talk of Tim Hollis, who in some of his observa- 
 tions was quite the man of experience, and she felt a 
 restless curiosity to know how both were getting on. 
 
 She had not heard from Peter Gumley, but this did 
 not surprise her. The trainer, as he often confessed, 
 was no "scholard," and to put pen to paper was to him 
 always a task of abhorrence. 
 
 The two had arranged that Peter should not go near 
 the Owl's Nest. Peter had reason to believe that 
 Barney Moss or some other tout was always lurking 
 about Holberry Down on the look out for some scraps 
 of news, and he had discovered that one of the stable 
 lads had been approached and offered bribes, but with- 
 out success. He was particularly anxious that Belphegor 
 should remain a " dark horse," and accordingly neglected 
 no precautions to preserve secrecy. 
 
 Violetta quite agreed with this policy, but as the days 
 wore on her anxiety became intolerable, and she at last 
 came to the conclusion that though it might not be wise 
 for Peter Gumley to come to the Owl's Nest, as doubtless 
 his movements were watched, there did not seem any 
 harm in her calling upon him. The touts could hardly 
 care what she did. 
 
 So one afternoon she sallied forth, and mounted on 
 her pony she rode to Holberry Down.
 
 158 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 LORD VERSCHOYLE'S " CRACKS ' 
 
 RAVENSCROFT HOUSE, the family seat of the Verschoyles, 
 was about three miles from Holberry Down Farm. It 
 was a big, old mansion of the Georgian period, when 
 architects seemed to care nothing for beauty and every- 
 thing for space. Ravenscroft House could not be said 
 to be a picturesque structure. It was a somewhat squat 
 building of two storeys, built of stone, and with an 
 enormous frontage. Its pretensions to ornament were 
 in the debased Italian style then affected. 
 
 Standing on a hill, this big white mansion, especially 
 when the sun shone on it, could be seen for miles around. 
 You caught glimpses of it between the trees in the 
 summer, while in the winter it stood out bleak, bare, and 
 gaunt. 
 
 While critics of to-day might denounce the taste of the 
 age which could produce such a house, all agreed that 
 it stood in the most charming of parks. The beeches of 
 Ravenscroft House were landmarks, and the spot was a 
 favourite one for picnickers when permission could be 
 obtained which wasn't often from the owner of the 
 property. 
 
 Lord Verschoyle had the military mind and the 
 military manner. Before he came into his title he was a 
 captain in the Guards and had retired after some years 
 of service. When the war broke out he joined up and 
 went through the arduous campaign with distinction. 
 
 He was really a good sort of fellow once you got below, 
 the crust of militaryism. He was nearer forty than 
 thirty, and his hair and moustache, ebony black in his
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 159 
 
 youth, had gone snow white. Certainly a distinguished 
 looking man, if not blessed with superfluity of brains. 
 
 He had just got through a generous breakfast when 
 Gleeson, his head groom, was announced. It was part 
 of the daily routine. Gleeson had to make his appear- 
 ance at nine o'clock exactly every morning to report as 
 to the horses and dogs. 
 
 Lord Verschoyle had the same views about punctuality 
 as had the old Duke of Wellington. It did not consist in 
 coming five minutes before the time appointed, and 
 certainly not five minutes later. It had to be on the tick 
 of the clock. Gleeson, who had had experience of his 
 lordship's irascibility, was very careful to observe the 
 law laid down. 
 
 " Well, Gleeson, what are we going to do over the 
 Derby ? " said his lordship, plunging at once into 
 business. 
 
 " Well, m'lord, your lordship's got three 'osses entered 
 and two of 'em's in the Two Thousand. It's this way " 
 
 " I know all about that. We needn't go into it 
 again," interrupted the noble lord impatiently. " I 
 want to know how the horses are going on and which is 
 the best one to fancy. Have you heard anything from 
 Peter Gumley ? " 
 
 " No, sir, not since the day before yesterday. I re- 
 ported yesterday what he said." 
 
 " Well, what's your opinion ? " said the noble lord, 
 after a pause. 
 
 " Well, m'lord, I'm rather sweet on Quicksand, but 
 Peter fancies Killarney." 
 
 "So do I. But there's not much to choose between 
 them. I wonder whether it was good policy entering 
 Quicksand in the name of John Smith. I did it on 
 Peter's advice." 
 
 " Quite right, m'lord. It'll make a lot o' difference in 
 the odds. You can't win with both." 
 
 " I suppose not," rejoined his lordship, with a short 
 laugh. " But if I elect to bet on Killarney for the
 
 160 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 winner, there's nothing to prevent me backing Quicksand 
 both ways." 
 
 " Nothing at all, m'lord." 
 
 " And what about Laverock ? " 
 
 " I should leave her alone. She won't stay the Derby 
 course." 
 
 " Well, we'll talk about her later on. It's the Two 
 Thousand we've got to think about. Gleeson, after 
 lunch let us ride over to Peter Gumley's and have a talk 
 with him about the cracks." 
 
 " Right, sir. What will you ride ? Polly ? " 
 
 " Yes, the mare suits me the best. She is the quietest 
 nag I've got." 
 
 " Very good, sir ; I'll be round with her in ten 
 minutes." 
 
 And in ten minutes, Gleeson, mounted on a stout cob, 
 appeared leading a beautiful chestnut mare, which one 
 would have said, at first sight, was scarcely up to Lord 
 Verschoyle's weight. It was her perfect symmetry, 
 however, which made her deceptive. She was really a 
 very powerful animal, and had the temper of an 
 angel. 
 
 His lordship and the stud groom rode along without 
 talking very much. Gleeson knew his master, and did 
 not speak unless he was spoken to. To-day, his lordship 
 was not in a talkative mood, and so from a con- 
 versational point of view the ride was a dull one. 
 
 At last the scattered buildings of Holberry Down 
 Farm came in view, and the two riders must have been 
 seen from afar off, for Mrs. Gumley met them at the 
 garden gate. 
 
 " Good afternoon, Mrs. Gumley," said my lord. 
 " Husband in ? " 
 
 " Yes, my lord. He half expected you to-day. He's 
 in the paddock. Jock," she called out to a curly- 
 headed stable boy, who was peeping through the door 
 leading from the garden to the stalls, " come and take 
 these horses,"
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 161 
 
 The boy ran forward, and Lord Verschoyle and the 
 groom dismounted. 
 
 " Will you come through the house ? It's the nearest 
 way to the paddock." 
 
 " Very well." 
 
 Mrs. Gumley preceded them, and they followed her 
 her along the passage, crossing a spacious kitchen, and, 
 leaving a dairy of spotless appearance on the left, went 
 through a kind of poultry-yard into the paddock beyond. 
 
 " Eh, what's Belphegor out for ? " exclaimed Gleeson. 
 "Surely Peter's not going to run him for the Derby ? " 
 
 " Not likely, Mr. Gleeson. Peter isn't such a fool. 
 He knows better than run a cross-grained brute like 
 Belphegor." 
 
 " I know ; but what's he being trotted out this after- 
 noon for ? " 
 
 " Oh, nothing much. Only to see what a new boy 
 can do." 
 
 " Rather a stiff trial, isn't it, ma'am ? I mean for 
 the boy." 
 
 " Yes ; but Peter knows best." 
 
 " I'll be bound he does." 
 
 Belphegor had been back about a week. His arrival 
 as well as the return of Tim Hollis, had been kept a 
 profound secret. It so happened he was being exercised 
 at the time of Lord Verschoyle's visit, and Mrs. Gumley 
 was a little embarrassed how to account for his appear- 
 ance in the paddock. 
 
 Lord Verschoyle did not matter much. He knew very 
 little about the horse and the little jockey, and had no 
 curiosity concerning them. It was different, however, 
 with Gleeson. The latter was bound to gossip about it, 
 both in the Ravenscroft House stables and at the Barley 
 Mow. Before long there wouldn't be any secret about 
 the matter. 
 
 But the thing was done, and all the trainer's wife 
 could do was to make the best of it. So she put on an 
 air of indifference,
 
 162 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 Just then Peter Gumley caught sight of his visitors 
 and came forward to greet his lordship and the stud groom. 
 
 " Well, Gumley," said his lordship, " and how are the 
 youngsters going on ? " 
 
 " The whole three are in prime condition, my lord. 
 The best lot turned out from Ravenscroft House for many 
 a long day." 
 
 " Are you still bent upon making Killarney the Derby 
 winner ? " 
 
 "I see nothing to alter my decision. It all depends 
 on the Two Thousand, and whether we have luck and a 
 good jockey." 
 
 " Ah, that's what I want to speak to you about. 
 Gleeson tells me you think of putting up one of the 
 stable boys. Is that so ? " 
 
 " Well, it was so, sir ; but I've had to alter my mind 
 since then." 
 
 " I'm glad of it. A stable boy would never win a race 
 like the Two Thousand, let alone the Derby." 
 
 "I'm not so sure of that." 
 
 " Now I should like to see those three horses of mine 
 run, Gumley." 
 
 " Well, sir, it isn't the best time of the day. If I'd 
 known you were coming, I would have had them ready. 
 Can't you come over to-morrow and see them do a 
 gallop ? ' ' 
 
 " No, I can't. I've come here now on purpose. It 
 can't make any difference to you." 
 
 " Oh, not to me ; but it makes a difference to the 
 horses. However, sir, have your own way." 
 
 And with a shrug of his shoulders, as much as to say 
 " It's no use contradicting this martinet," Peter turned 
 away and gave some orders to one of the lads, who 
 forthwith disappeared. 
 
 In about twenty minutes the three shapely beauties 
 Killarney, Laverock and Quicksand appeared, looking 
 round with their big eyes, as much as to say, "What are 
 we brought out at this time of the day for ? "
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 163 
 
 Of the three, Killarney was the handsomest. He was 
 a dark chestnut, with a broad chest and powerful thighs. 
 He looked fit to run for a king's ransom. Laverock was 
 a black filly, with clean and flat forelegs, and by com- 
 parison with Killarney was almost narrow. Still, there 
 was undeniably the look of a racer about her. 
 
 Quicksand, on the other hand, was a grey a very 
 unusual colour for a racer. He was the least attactive 
 of the three. He was a big horse, with a somewhat lean 
 head, and his frame a little clumsily built. In looks he 
 could not compare with Killarney. 
 
 " Johnson, you will ride Killarney ; Jock, you're on 
 Laverock ; and who shall I put on Quicksand ? " 
 
 While the trainer's eye was wandering round, and he 
 was debating the point within himself, his glance fell on 
 Tim Hollis, who on Belphegor was at the far end of the 
 paddock. 
 
 " There's nobody else handy. It'll be a bit of practice 
 for the lad," he thought. 
 
 So he sent for Tim, and after Belphegor was stabled the 
 boy presented himself. 
 
 " I want you to have a go on the grey. Mind, now, 
 he's a lazy brute, but there's plenty of speed in him if 
 you know how to get it out," said Gumley. 
 
 Tim looked at Quicksand, but said nothing. After a 
 minute or two he went up to the animal, patted its neck, 
 and talked to it, as if to introduce himself and get its 
 good will. 
 
 The cloths were stripped off the animals, and the boys 
 mounted and cantered across the paddock to the gate 
 which led on to the downs. 
 
 It was a breezy April afternoon, and, on the whole, 
 not a bad day for a spin. Peter Gumley looked a little 
 anxiously across the Downs, as if fearing to see Barney 
 Moss or any of his kidney about. But as far as the eye 
 could reach there was not a soul in sight. 
 
 " There'll be no harm done after all," muttered the 
 trainer " No one would expect a trial to be made this
 
 164 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 afternoon, and so we shall be pretty safe from the 
 attentions of the spies." 
 
 " Well, Gleeson, what do you think now ? " asked 
 Lord Verschoyle, as they followed the horses across the 
 paddock and criticised the action of each. 
 
 " There's no doubt, sir, that Killarney's a grand colt. 
 We know what he's made of. He's got a splendid 
 chance for the Two Thousand, but for all that I fancy 
 Quicksand. Of course, everything depends upon the 
 riding." 
 
 " Look here, Gleeson, we must have Tom Allworth 
 to ride him." 
 
 " You must talk to Mr. Gumley about that, m'lord," 
 said the groom, with a shrug of the shoulders. 
 
 His lordship did ask Gumley. 
 
 " You seem to forget, m'lord, that you quarrelled with 
 Allworth just before the Epsom Spring Meeting. He 
 rode Tomtit because he was engaged to do so, but he 
 swore he'd never ride another horse of yours, and I don't 
 suppose he will. Tom's a man of his word." 
 
 Lord Verschoyle bit his lips and said no more. He 
 remembered the incident perfectly well. He had been 
 in an unusually bad humour that morning, and, attempt- 
 ing to dictate to Tom Allworth what he should do, the 
 distinguished jockey had virtually, if not in so many 
 words, told him to mind his own business. Allworth 
 went dead against his lordship's instructions and won 
 the race with Tomtit. 
 
 There was some little delay before Gumley got the 
 horses off. Killarney was apparently restive, and every 
 now and then his ears went back in a decidedly vicious 
 fashion ; but at last a good start was made, and away 
 the three cracks went, skimming the ground like swallows, 
 Killarney quite a length and a half in front of Laverock, 
 Quicksand plodding away a length behind the second 
 horse. 
 
 ^ ; " Why, it's a foregone conclusion," exclaimed Lord 
 Verschoyle. " Killarney's first and the rest are nowhere,"
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 165 
 
 " Wait a minute, sir," said the trainer gravely. 
 " Johnson hasn't done what I told him. He was to 
 keep him well in hand the first half of the course. Instead 
 of that he's let the brute have his head. We shall see 
 the result." 
 
 " Eh, look there ! " cried Gleeson. " Quicksand's 
 coming along hand over hand. He's headed Laverock. 
 Laverock's beaten. See how he's creeping up. Why, 
 he's close to Killarney's heels he's up to his shoulders 
 he's beaten him by George." 
 
 " By a couple of lengths, too," said the trainer, 
 quietly. 
 
 Lord Verschoyle put down his glasses, and turned 
 sharply round to the latter. 
 
 " What does this mean, Gumley ? You led me to 
 understand that Killarney was the best horse in the 
 stable, and that Quicksand was- simply intended to make 
 the running, and now this horse, which was supposed to 
 have no chance, beats its companion. How do you 
 account for it ? " 
 
 " Well, sir, horses are very like men. They can't be 
 the same every day of their lives. But in this case I 
 should say it's the riding that did it. That boy got every 
 ounce of speed out of the grey, and he used no whip 
 either. How he managed it I can't think." 
 
 The trial had upset all Lord Verschoyle's calculations. 
 He had backed Killarney for a large amount to win, and 
 if the horses showed their true form that day, it looked 
 as if he stood a good chance to lose his money. It was 
 clear that to make himself safe he must back Quicksand. 
 Fortunately, the grey was a very long way down in the 
 betting, and unless the news of the running that day got 
 wind, his owner would be able easily to hedge, and 
 without much risk. 
 
 The horses came back at an easy walk to the paddock, 
 and while the cloths were being put on, Gumley favoured 
 Johnson with a jacketing for disobeying his instruc- 
 tions.
 
 166 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " I did keep him in hand, sir ; but the others kept 
 theirs in hand too." 
 
 " If that was so, how was it that you couldn't bring 
 him up to the scratch when he was wanted ? " 
 
 " I dunno, sir, unless he ain't as good a horse as 
 Quicksand, or else there was some secret in that chap's 
 riding. I don't believe it was, though. It was all a 
 fluke, after all." 
 
 " Fluke be bothered," exclaimed Mr. Gumley, 
 irritably. " You thought Hollis couldn't ride and you 
 didn't bother yourself." 
 
 " I don't suppose he can ride any better than me," 
 said the boy, sullenly. 
 
 Bob Johnson was ignominiously sent off with the 
 proverbial " flea in his ear," and Peter Gumley turned 
 to Lord Verschoyle. 
 
 " I guess, my lord, you can see what I think by my 
 hauling that disobedient young rascal over the coals," 
 said he. 
 
 " You mean that you consider Killarney the better 
 horse." 
 
 " I do if properly mounted. He didn't have a fair 
 chance just now." 
 
 " Who was up on Quicksand ? " 
 
 " A boy who's not had much experience. I wanted 
 to see what sort of stuff he was made of. That's why I 
 put him on Quicksand. As a matter of fact I'd no one 
 else available. Most of the lads get an hour or two off 
 about this time o' day," returned Gumley carelessly. 
 
 " Well, Gumley, if I know anything of horses and 
 riding I should say you've got a find in that youngster. 
 If he goes on as he's doing some day he'll be at the top 
 of the tree." 
 
 " You think so, my lord ? " 
 
 " Think ? I'm sure of it. The way he handled 
 Quicksand was splendid." 
 
 " It was pretty good. I will say that ; but with a 
 better jockey on Killarney it 'ud be a different thing."
 
 167 
 
 " May be ; but as matters look now, if that boy rides 
 Quicksand in the Two Thousand as well as he did to-day, 
 and Killarney runs no better, it will upset the apple 
 cart. I've too much at stake on Killarney to afford to 
 lose. I've told all my friends to back him, and they've 
 done so pretty heavily. Unless there's a change 
 in the situation it would be better to scratch Quick- 
 sand. 
 
 Gumley's face fell. 
 
 " It'll have a bad effect," said he. " The public won't 
 like it." 
 
 " What does that matter ? " rejoined his lordship 
 brusquely. " The public have never sacrificed them- 
 selves for me. Why should I sacrifice myself for the 
 public ? " 
 
 " That's true. At the same time you can't prevent 
 people talking. Your lordship's name's A.I. Every- 
 body knows you wouldn't do anything that's unsports- 
 manlike." 
 
 " I don't follow you, Gumley," said the nobleman 
 frowningly, and tapping his riding boot with his hunting 
 crop. 
 
 " Well, you know that when a horse is scratched the 
 bookies benefit. The backers lose their money. That's 
 a bad start to begin with, isn't it ? But what do most 
 of 'em I mean the backers say when a horse is 
 scratched ? Unless its an undoubted fact that the 
 horse isn't fit to run, the scratching of it's put down to 
 a dodge on the part of the owner or of those who are 
 advising him. That's the po-sition my lord." 
 
 An uneasy look crept over Lord Verschoyle's face. 
 He prided himself on being the soul of honour, as indeed 
 he was. He had always played the game, and always 
 would. 
 
 " Hang it, Gumley," he broke out. " I believe you're 
 right. Anyhow, we've got to guard against loss in the 
 event of Quicksand winning. What do you advise ? 
 Back it both ways ? "
 
 168 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " That's the best thing. It's a dead cert that unless 
 Tom All worth rides Killarney " 
 
 " I won't have Tom All worth," interposed his lordship 
 angrily. 
 
 Peter Gumley shrugged his shoulders and pursed up 
 his mouth as much as to say, " Then you must go to the 
 devil your own way, my lord." 
 
 " Isn't there any other jockey you can put up ? " 
 
 " No one that I'd care to see on Killarney. All the 
 best lads have their engagements, and they can't break 
 'em. It's a bit o' luck that Tom Allworth's free. But 
 it won't be for long, and I spoke to him yesterday about 
 Killarney, and he's quite willing that is, if your lord- 
 ship's willing." 
 
 " You oughtn't to have taken the matter into your 
 own hands. You ought to have consulted me first," 
 growled his lordship. 
 
 " Pardon me," retorted the trainer bluntly. " If I'm 
 fit to be trusted with your lordship's horses, I'm fit to be 
 trusted to select the lads best suited to ride 'em." 
 
 But Lord Verschoyle would not give way, though he 
 knew very well Peter Gumley was in the right. His 
 lordship hated climbing down, and when he did he liked 
 to have a good excuse for it. Quite unexpectedly the 
 excuse was forthcoming. 
 
 At that moment the trim figure of a lady irreproach- 
 ably dressed was seen coming across the paddock towards 
 them, 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 VlOLETTA TAKES LORD VERSCHOYLB IN HAND 
 
 PETER GUMLEY'S face changed. He did not know 
 whether he was sorry or pleased to see the mistress of 
 the Owl's Nest. Anyhow, her arrival gave him a chance
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 169 
 
 to leave his lordship for a brief space and enable him to 
 chew the cud of his reflections. 
 
 So with an apology to Lord Verschoyle, he hastened 
 to meet Violetta knowing that if he stayed to talk over 
 the point in dispute with his lordship a quarrel might 
 end the business. 
 
 " I'm glad to see you, Miss Violetta," said Gumley, 
 touching his hat. " But you ought to ha' been here ten 
 minutes ago an' you'd ha' seen a trial of the pick of Lord 
 Verschoyle's stables. ' ' 
 
 " I did see it. Mrs. Gumley and I watched the spin 
 from the dairy window. Tell me " she went on a 
 little excitedly " who was up on the grey ? Mrs. 
 Gumley said she was sure it was Tim Hollis, but I could 
 hardly believe it after what you said about him." 
 
 " Well, it was the young rascal." 
 
 " Then you've made it up with the boy." 
 
 " Oh, I don't bear no malice. Maybe I was a bit 
 hasty, an' p'raps I forgot I'd been a boy meself an' 
 sometimes kicked over the traces." 
 
 " I'll be bound you did, Peter," said Violetta 
 beamingly. "Anyhow, I'm glad you've taken Tim into 
 favour again. He's certain to do great things for you 
 sooner or later." 
 
 " So Lord Verschoyle says." 
 
 " Is that Lord Verschoyle ? " 
 
 Violetta's eyes wandered in the direction of the well 
 set up soldierly man who was pacing slowly up and 
 down, now and again tapping his riding boot with his 
 whip as though the action helped him to settle some 
 doubt in his mind. 
 
 " Yes, that's his lordship. He's a real gentleman, but 
 he's got a bit of a temper." 
 
 " A man's none the worse for that." 
 
 " May be not, but there's tempers and tempers. My 
 lord's temper won't let him listen to reason. That's 
 where he makes a mistake. 
 
 Violetta laughed.
 
 170 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " What's amusin' you, Miss ? " 
 
 " Why, my dear man, all tempers are like that. You 
 must give them time to simmer down." 
 
 "There's a lot of sense in what you say, Miss 
 Violetta," returned Gumley, scratching his head. " I'll 
 go bail you could soothe a man's temper as well as you 
 can soothe a horse's. Now if you'd only take Lord 
 Verschoyle in hand " 
 
 " Good Heavens, Peter, you don't want me to whisper 
 in the man's ear, and stroke his neck," broke in Violetta 
 with another burst of merriment. 
 
 " No, not quite that though I'll bet that 'ud put him 
 in a good humour in two twos. It would me," and 
 Peter's eyes twinkled. 
 
 " I dare say, but it would put Mrs. Gumley into a 
 bad one. But what is it you want I mean about Lord 
 Verschoyle ? " 
 
 " It's just this. His lordship, a little time ago, had a 
 bit of a row with Tom All worth, and Tom swore he'd 
 never put his legs across one of the Verschoyle string 
 again." 
 
 " Did Tom say that to Lord Verschoyle ? " 
 
 " No. He said it to Gleeson, Lord Verschoyle's stud 
 groom, and of course the blundering blockhead carried 
 Tom's words to his master. That's how mischief's 
 made people's stupid tongues. It put his lordship's 
 back up and he now swears he won't have Tom ride 
 Killarney. All I've got to say is that if he doesn't go 
 back on his word, he'll come a cropper. Killarney, bar 
 accidents, can't win if Quicksand runs his best." 
 
 " And will he ? " 
 
 " Well, I'm going to put Tim up, and you saw how the 
 boy handled the grey." 
 
 " Yes, but why doesn't Lord Verschoyle back Quick- 
 sand ? " 
 
 " He will to a certain extent, but he's too deep in with 
 Killarney to make anything. If he gets his money back 
 supposing Quicksand wins, it'll be as much as he will,
 
 and he'd rather the chestnut won, even though he 
 didn't clear a penny." 
 
 " I understand. I might feel that way myself over 
 Belphegor." 
 
 " Belphegor h'in." 
 
 An uneasy look crept over the trainer's face. 
 
 " Well, what about Belphegor ? " 
 
 " It's the deuce of a bit of bad luck that the brute 
 should be in the paddock when Lord Verschoyle and 
 Gleeson came. Gleeson's bound to spot him." 
 
 " What of that ? No one knows that you sold him 
 to me, and that he's been at the Owl's Nest until a week 
 or so since." 
 
 " No one know ? Parsons knew. He saw you work 
 your magic on the horse, and he was in the stables when 
 you rode him away." 
 
 " Yes, but he doesn't know that Belphegor's mine." 
 
 " No, he doesn't know that. No one does." 
 
 " Well, why shouldn't I have taken the horse to the 
 Owl's Nest to complete the training process. I've 
 returned him to you now that I'm satisfied. Can't you 
 see how it works out ? " 
 
 " Yes but well nothing can be done. Belphegor's 
 entered for the Derby, and I want him to win for your 
 sake. / know and you know what he can do, but no one 
 else must, or our pitch'll be queered I mean so far as 
 our bets are concerned." 
 
 " I thought you never betted, Peter." 
 
 " I'm going to break my rule. I'm in with you Miss, 
 you know. But I must get back to his lordship. I can 
 see he's fidgetting. Do come with me, Miss Violetta, 
 and put in a word for Tom All worth." 
 
 " All right. But we must be artful. His lordship 
 may bolt when the subject's introduced." 
 
 " Not with you, Miss, a guiding him." 
 
 " Well, we'll see." 
 
 And the two marched across the paddock to where his 
 lordship was impatiently awaiting them.
 
 172 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " Confound it, Gumley, I was beginning to think 
 you'd " 
 
 And then his eyes fell on Violetta's winsome face, and 
 he came at once under the spell of her smite. He raised 
 his hat. 
 
 " I excuse you, Gumley. You had every reason for 
 delaying." 
 
 He fixed his eyes upon Violetta and his features 
 relaxed pleasantly. 
 
 " A neighbour of yours, my lord," said Peter. " Miss 
 Violetta Vaughan of the Owl's Nest." 
 
 " I congratulate myself on my good luck," said Lord 
 Verschoyle, and he held out his hand, which Violetta 
 took. 
 
 " Miss Vaughan is one of the best judges of a horse 
 that I know," went on the trainer. " She saw the trial 
 spin just now and she'll give you her opinion." 
 
 " If you care to have it," said Violetta frankly. 
 
 " Care ? of course I care. I'd sooner have a woman's 
 opinion than a man's on anything in this world. It's 
 marvellous, Miss Vaughan, how keen your sex is in going 
 straight to the point." 
 
 " Not always," laughed Violetta. " When the matter 
 concerns us personally, we are frightfully biassed." 
 
 " Well, in this case, I hope you'll be impartial." 
 
 " I'll try to be. What would you like me to say ? " 
 
 " My dear youg lady, is that your idea of impartiality ? 
 Gad, it isn't what / like, but what you like. Don't be 
 afraid to say what's in your mind. You saw how the 
 grey, which was supposed to be an inferior horse to the 
 chestnut, turned out the faster." 
 
 " Yes, I saw that, yet I should think with proper riding 
 the chestnut should have won." 
 
 " There, my lord, what did I tell you ? " said Gumley 
 turning to the nobleman. 
 
 " Oh, I know," said Verschoyle playfully. "When 
 you experts agree, your unanimity, like that of people 
 on the stage, is wonderful. But your reasons, please."
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 173 
 
 " No, you must accept my judgment if you accept 
 anything. If I gave you my reasons, they might be 
 worthless." 
 
 " Well, anyhow, I suppose I may take it that with such 
 jockeying as to-day, Killarney wouldn't pull off the Two 
 Thousand." 
 
 " I'm sure he wouldn't, especially if Tom Allworth 
 had a good mount against him. I'm told that Tom is 
 considering an offer." 
 
 " The devil he is. Did you know that Peter ? " 
 
 " I've heard something of the kind," said the trainer 
 stolidly. " What I do know is that he's not fixed up." 
 
 " I'd give anything to see Tom Allworth on that lovely 
 chestnut. What did you say his name was, Lord 
 Verschoyle ? " 
 
 " Killarney." 
 
 " That settles it. He must belong to dear old Ireland 
 like myself. My mother was Irish." 
 
 " She must have been a very beautiful woman." 
 
 " If you talk like that, Lord Verschoyle, I shall 
 believe that you also have Irish blood in you. You have 
 quite the Blarney touch," said Violetta saucily. 
 
 " Have I ? It must have come on since I've been 
 talking to you." 
 
 Peter Gumley chuckled to himself. 
 
 44 Wheedled him into a good humour," he muttered. 
 " I knew she would." 
 
 " Well, we needn't discuss Ireland. It's a forbidden 
 subject to most English people. The point is Tom 
 Allworth and Killarney. Who are you putting on my 
 dear Irish horse ? " 
 
 " Well, we've not decided." 
 
 " Oh, that's splendid," exclaimed Violetta clapping 
 her hands. " Then you must engage Tom Allworth. 
 It would be a real treat to see him romp in a couple of 
 lengths ahead." 
 
 " H'm h'm " 
 
 " What does that mean ? " asked Violetta with a
 
 174 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 mocking smile. " I take back what I said just now 
 about your lordship's possible Irish origin. I believe 
 you're from north of the Tweed. H'm h'm is 
 Scottish for everything, isn't it ? " 
 
 " You're a witch, Miss Vaughan. My grandmother 
 was Scottish. So you'd like to see Tom Allworth in 
 Killarney's saddle ? " 
 
 " I should love it." 
 
 " Then by jove you shall. Peter, Miss Vaughan 's 
 talked me over. I can't resist her. See Tom and make 
 the best arrangements you can with him. 
 
 Then wheeling round to Violetta, he said with an air 
 of gallantry, which sat well upon him, after a rapid 
 glance at her semi-masculine riding costume, and at the 
 whip in her hand. 
 
 " I see you have ridden here. May I have the honour 
 of escorting you part of the way to the Owl's Nest 
 that is if you're going there ? " 
 
 " Yes. Thank you very much." 
 
 Lord Verschoyle liked the simplicity and directness 
 of her manner. There was nothing of the coy maiden 
 about her, and he wondered what her age was. 
 
 " She doesn't look a day older than twenty-one. But 
 hang it, who can tell what a woman's age is now-a-days," 
 was his thought. 
 
 He admired also the frank way with which she 
 accepted his assistance to mount her pony, though he 
 was quite sure she did not need it. 
 
 Soon they were side by side, Violetta considerately 
 walking her pony. She was rather taken by the bluff, 
 stand-no-nonsense manner of the military nobleman, 
 and she had not the slightest objection to a chat with 
 him. It was so long since she had talked to a gentle- 
 man, and she knew one when she saw one no woman 
 better. v _* 
 
 " That's a pretty pony of yours. Nice easy action. 
 And if I may make so personal a remark you sit you r
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 175 
 
 saddle to perfection. I don't mean to compliment you 
 it's a simple fact." 
 
 " I suppose it is as I've been told the same thing 
 before. But its nothing extraordinary seeing I've been 
 accustomed to riding ever since I can remember any- 
 thing." 
 
 " The deuce you have. Well I envy you. I don't 
 think I straddled a horse before I left Eton. Ever 
 hunt ? " 
 
 ' Yes, a little." 
 
 " In this part of the country ? " 
 
 Violetta paused for a moment. She wondered if it 
 would be prudent to mention that she had ridden with 
 Sir John Norman's hounds. She decided she would 
 keep silence. 
 
 " I can't quite remember. I hunted a little in 
 France." 
 
 " Ah, that's interesting. A bit of difference, I guess, 
 between French and English hunting." 
 
 Violetta admitted that there was, and as soon as 
 possible changed the subject in which she was assisted 
 by a fit of plaj'ful rebellion on the part of Bruce, her 
 pony. 
 
 Bruce was more than usually restive. He reared, he 
 threw back his head with an impatient jerk, he moved 
 when he so condescended, at awkward angles, he went 
 through a performance as if he was treading on hot 
 plates. 
 
 Lord Verschoyle was at first prompted to go to her 
 assistance, but he saw that the young horsewoman was 
 perfectly cool and collected, and he contented himself 
 with watching her. Soon she had the pony quite gentle 
 and subdued. She had never once lost her control over 
 him. 
 
 " By jove," called out his lordship, " you know some- 
 thing. Bravo ! And you never once used the 
 whip." 
 
 "I never do, I don't believe in it,"
 
 176 
 
 " Well, you may be right, but well that isn't ray way 
 with a stubborn and tricky brute like that." 
 
 " You're not stubborn and you're not tricky are you, 
 dear ? " 
 
 She bent on Bruce's neck and stroked his mane. 
 
 " Well, if he isn't, he's uncommonly near being both. 
 Take care he doesn't get you unawares some day and 
 throw you." 
 
 " I'm not a bit afraid of that. He's really only got 
 one real fault." 
 
 " Oh, you admit that, do you ? And what may that 
 fault be?" 
 
 " Well, he has an unpleasant habit of stopping at 
 every public house he comes to," said Violetta gravely. 
 
 Lord Verschoyle burst into a Homeric fit of laughter. 
 
 " Of course. Its a sign of his intelligence," she went 
 on gravely. 
 
 " How's that ? " 
 
 " Well, you see, his last owner was a butcher, and I 
 suspect the butcher's man got him into the habit. As 
 I don't happen to be in the butchering trade, the habit's 
 somewhat embarrassing, but I hope to cure him 
 of it." 
 
 " And I don't doubt you'll succeed. I don't mind 
 betting a ' monkey ' that you'd succeed in anything 
 you'd a mind to." 
 
 " Well, I should try, of course." 
 
 Once more the horses were walking quietly enough, 
 and the talk and interchange of rallies went on gaily. 
 
 Then they came to the steep path leading up to the 
 Owl's Nest. 
 
 " I'll bid you good day here, please," said Violetta. 
 
 " Mayn't I come up the hill with you ? " 
 
 " No. Your horse isn't used to it, and my pony is. 
 Besides, I've taken you a sufficient distance out of your 
 way." 
 
 " That doesn't matter a bit. I'd ride any number of 
 miles for the sake of your company."
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 177 
 
 "I'm not going to test your endurance. I should 
 bore you to death." 
 
 " By the lord " 
 
 The nobleman stopped. Some foolishness was on the 
 tip of his tongue. Though he had escaped the chains of 
 matrimony, he had had his love affairs, serious and 
 flimsy, and though arrived at middle age, he was not 
 averse to a flirtation. 
 
 Possibly Violetta read his thoughts. She shot him an 
 enigmatical smile and set her pony at a canter *p the 
 ascent. 
 
 " Would it be a liberty if some day I called at the 
 Owl's Nest ? " he shouted after her. 
 
 She turned her head towards him, but whether she 
 shook it or nodded he could not quite determine. At 
 any rate, she gave him no answer. 
 
 " Provoking, bewitching hussy," was his lordship's 
 comment as he rode away. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 A MEMORY OF MONTE CARLO 
 
 IT was the day of the Two Thousand. The crowd which 
 assembles at Newmarket on this occasion is but a 
 handful compared with that which streams to Epsom 
 by road and rail on the Derby Day. The event is purely 
 a sporting one, and the bulk of the spectators are more 
 or less interested in the result pecuniarily. 
 
 The paddock was fairly thronged, and here was a good 
 sprinkling of turf habitues. Westoby was there, looking 
 stonier and more saturnine than ever. The news that 
 Tom All worth was to ride the favourite had disturbed 
 him considerably, the more so because the intimation 
 had only leaked out at the eleventh hour. He had 
 
 M
 
 178 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 made his book on the strength of Killarney losing, 
 and there was not time to hedge. 
 
 Peter Gumley looked on cool and imperturbable, and 
 was perfectly impervious to Westoby's overtures of 
 affability. For some reason, the bookmaker seemed 
 anxious to make up old differences with the trainer. 
 Lord Verschoyle was bluff and boisterous as usual, but 
 he was nervous all the same. 
 
 Not far from the judge's box, leaning against a post 
 which supported the rope, was Mr. Barney Moss, to- 
 gether with a group of companions as flashy-looking and 
 as loudly dressed as himself. 
 
 " What ought we to win over this, Barney ? " asked 
 a short, red-faced young man, in a covert-coat and bowler 
 hat. 
 
 " Five thou', clean as a whistle. Killarney can't 
 lose." 
 
 " And over the Derby ? " went on the red-faced in- 
 dividual, with a wink. 
 
 " Wait till it comes," said Barney, shortly. " Don't 
 you open your mouth too wide over the Derby, Buttons, 
 old man, or you may spoil the game." 
 
 At this moment up stalked Ned Strangeways, shabbily 
 dressed, dark man, with a dirty bird's-eye scarf round 
 his neck, with an enormous pin stuck in it." 
 
 " Mossy," said Strangeways, a well-known bookie, 
 in an excited whisper " are you sure you're on the right 
 tack with Killarney ? " 
 
 " Sure ? D'ye think I'm a juggins 1 " returned 
 Mr. Moss, scornfully. 
 
 " I've the tip that the winner is Quicksand blue 
 with silver stripes." 
 
 " If you don't believe what I say," went on Strange- 
 ways, " ask Peter Gumley. Quicksand comes from his 
 stables." 
 
 "A fat lot one's likely to get out of Peter. He's as 
 close as they make 'em," retorted Barney. " I'll bet 
 any money that Quicksand's entered to make the running
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 179 
 
 for Killarney. Bah ! it's all rot. Do you imagine 
 I don't know a thing or two ? Shut up here come 
 the horses." 
 
 It was the preliminary canter. Killarney stood out 
 from the lot by his beautiful symmetry of form and his 
 grand action. Still, after the intelligence brought by 
 Strangeways, it was only natural that the blue and silver 
 stripes should attract a little attention. 
 
 All this time Barney Moss had got his eyes fixed on 
 Quicksand's Jockey. There was something in the 
 jockey's face which haunted and puzzled him. 
 
 " If I didn't know it couldn't be," he muttered, " I'd 
 swear that was Tim Hollis." 
 
 However, there was no possibility of satisfying his 
 doubts, for the horses were half-way down the course 
 on the way to the starting post. 
 
 There was the usual interval of expectation, and then 
 a shout of " They're off ! " went up. Barney Moss, 
 who had come down to Newmarket in a motor, was 
 standing in the driver's seat, and, armed with a big 
 field glass, watched the race intently. 
 
 The start was a very good one. The horses went off 
 in a cluster, and for a hundred yards or so it was difficult 
 to tell which was first. Then a chestnut got away 
 from the ruck, and some backer of this particular animal 
 yelled enthusiastically : " Birdcage wins for a hundred ! " 
 
 " Birdcage, be hanged ! " said Moss. " Why, he's 
 challenged already." 
 
 And so he was by two horses one was Killarney, 
 the other was the " dark " horse, the outsider, Quick- 
 sand. 
 
 Suddenly Moss uttered an oath. Quicksand was 
 forging ahead ; if he could only stay he must win. 
 Killarney was close behind, and with that clever con- 
 summate horseman, Tom Allworth on his back, no 
 one could say what might happen. Certain it was 
 that the half-length which divided the first and second 
 horse was being maintained,
 
 i8o A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 But as they neared the judge's box the skill of All worth 
 was shown. He called upon his horse, and Killarney 
 gamely answered. No one knew exactly how it was 
 done, but somehow Killarney was landed on the post 
 the winner by a short head of the Two Thousand. 
 
 A great roar went up from the crowd, for the victory 
 of Killarney was popular ; but two or three knowing 
 ones shook their heads and said it was a good thing 
 the rider of Quicksand was not as good a jockey as 
 Tom Allworth, or he must have won. 
 
 Directly the result was known, Barney Moss jumped 
 from his seat on the motor with the object of satisfying 
 his doubts as to Quicksand's jockey. The latter, how- 
 ever, had disappeared, and Moss did not trouble much 
 about the matter, seeing that his end the victory of 
 Killarney had been achieved. 
 
 There was not less excitement in the grand stand 
 than among the crowd below, and Lord Verschoyle 
 was warmly congratulated by his friends on Killarney 's 
 win, and his lordship received these congratulations 
 with the air of a man who had passed successfully 
 through an anxious ordeal. 
 
 " Thanks, boys," said he. " I hope you'll all put 
 money in your pocket." 
 
 " As it's turned out, it's all right," laughed Sir Fred- 
 erick Dartnell, an old comrade of Lord Verschoyle in 
 the Guards, " but by Jupiter, it was a near thing. No 
 other man in England but Tom Allworth could have 
 snatched victory right on the post. Who's " 
 
 "Excuse me, Dartnell, but I see a friend yonder 
 I want to have a word with." 
 
 His lordship had caught sight of Violetta, who, very 
 quietly and unobtrusively dressed, was sitting in a 
 dark corner which she had purposely chosen, as she 
 did not want to be recognised by George Godfree, who 
 she made sure, would be somewhere on the course. 
 
 After the race was over, she had risen to find her 
 way to the railway station. She had no interest in
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 181 
 
 anything but the running of Killarney and Quicksand, 
 and did not care even to congratulate Peter Gumley 
 and Tim Hollis. She could do that easily enough on 
 her return to the Owl's Nest. 
 
 But her intention of slipping away unobserved was 
 baulked by Lord Verschoyle, whom she saw squeezing 
 through the crowd towards her. 
 
 " I've only just caught sight of you, Miss Vaughan," 
 said he, holding out both his hands and his face beaming. 
 " To think of meeting you here ! " 
 
 " Why not ? You know how I love to see horses 
 run." 
 
 " Yes, but " 
 
 " Well, what about the but ? " 
 
 "Oh, it's not quite 'but,' its 'bet.' Silly joke. I 
 apologise. What I mean is, do you back your fancies ? " 
 
 " Sometimes," rejoined Violetta, composedly. " What's 
 right for a man is, I suppose, right for a woman." 
 
 " H'm well, I'm not going to argue you always 
 get the best of it. Anyhow, right or wrong, I've reason 
 to thank you. Gad, but for your sticking up for Tom 
 Allworth, I don't believe I'd have climbed down. Had 
 any other jockey been in his place, I stood to lose 10,000. 
 As it is, I've won 20,000." 
 
 " I'm very glad to hear it. A mistake though, 
 wasn't it, to plunge so heavily." 
 
 " Perhaps, but it happens to be my way in every- 
 thing I do. I must go the whole hog, you know. And 
 that brings me to what's uppermost in my mind. My 
 mother gives a dinner party the week after the Derby, 
 and I'm going to ask her to send you an invita- 
 tion." 
 
 " Please don't." 
 
 In spite of herself, a look of dismay crept over her face. 
 
 " I shall quote your own words why not ? " 
 
 " I rarely go to dinner parties. I prefer my own quiet 
 life, and I don't want to be dragged out of it. Besides, 
 I*m quite sure your mother wouldn't like me."
 
 i82 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " What on earth does that matter ? I like you, and 
 that's everything." 
 
 This blunt announcement was quite in accordance with 
 Lord Verschoyle's temperament, and Violetta did not 
 attach much importance to it. Certainly, it did not dis- 
 please her. 
 
 " Your liking me surely doesn't involve me in going 
 through the ordeal of a full dress dinner party," she 
 retorted laughingly. "I'm much too ingrained a 
 Bohemian to feel at home in anything out of my nomadic 
 habits." 
 
 " But it's just that spice of Bohemianism which 
 makes you so charming. Now, merely to please me, 
 do accept my mother's hospitality. I've a particular 
 reason for wanting you to know her." 
 
 " And may I enquire the reason ? " 
 
 " Just my whim, that's all." 
 
 " Not good enough, Lord Verschoyle. I've never 
 subjected myself to the whim of anyone, and I'm not 
 going to begin." 
 
 Lord Verschoyle was not deaf to the tone of hauteur 
 which had crept into Violetta's voice. 
 
 ' You're right," said he, after a pause. " I apologise. 
 Don't be angry. At the same tune well, I wish you 
 weren't so dashed independent." 
 
 " Sorry, but I'm afraid I can't alter." 
 
 " I don't ask you to alter. I wouldn't have you 
 anything different from what you are. But I hate un- 
 certainties. Do you mind telling me right out what 
 answer you'll send my mother if she does write 
 you." 
 
 " I shall thank her, of course, acknowledge the honour, 
 etcetera, but point out that as a perfect stranger to 
 her ladyship, I could not accept her kind invitation." 
 
 The handsome face of the nobleman was clouded. 
 
 " She won't like that. It'll look like a snub," said 
 he, quickly. 
 
 " There's an easy way of avoiding all unpleasantness.
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 183 
 
 You needn't say a word to her about me. I'm very 
 certain she'd feel embarrassed if you do. / should 
 feel so under similar circumstances." 
 
 " I wish you women were not so like cats," he blurted 
 out. 
 
 " Thank you." 
 
 " Well, you know what I mean. Your claws are 
 always ready to scratch one another." 
 
 His lordship was unquestionably disappointed and 
 inclined to be snappy, as Violetta saw plainly enough. 
 
 " I fancy men have claws, too," said she, quite un- 
 disturbed. " I won't retaliate just to show you 
 I'm not what you've accused me of being." 
 
 The cloud cleared away. Lord Verschoyle was no 
 sulker. 
 
 " You're an awfully good sort, Violetta I may call 
 you, Violetta, mayn't I ? but confoundedly obstinate. 
 I'm obstinate too, and I tell you straight that some day 
 my mother shall know you, and I don't mind proph- 
 esying that she'll like you as much as I do. But we'll 
 say no more about the dinner party since you don't 
 care for it. Have I pleased you ? " 
 
 "I'm very grateful." 
 
 " As a reward, may I call upon you ? I asked your 
 permission once before, if you remember, but you 
 neither gave nor refused it." 
 
 " I can't prevent your calling, I suppose." 
 
 " That's sufficient. Thanks. You're not leaving, 
 are you ? " 
 
 " Yes. I don't want to spoil the recollection of that 
 splendid Two Thousand race by seeing any other. I'm 
 going to the railway station." 
 
 " Then I'll go with you if you've no objection. My 
 car is at your service." 
 
 He seemed so desirous of doing the amiable, that 
 Violetta hadn't the heart to disappoint him. After 
 all, his society and his rough and ready speech were very 
 agreeable. He had not attempted to pay her fulsome
 
 184 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 compliments, a form of masculine homage which she 
 thoroughly abhorred. 
 
 Verschoyle escorted her from the grand stand, and 
 they edged their way through the crowd at the entrance. 
 
 Just as they emerged, Violetta heard a hoarse strident 
 laugh which she knew well enough, and she turned her 
 head aside to avoid being recognised by George Godfree. 
 
 But she was too late. He had seen her. She was 
 not going to show she was afraid of him, and she went 
 on resolutely. 
 
 Godfree had a reputation for impudence which his 
 conduct fully justified. He knew Lord Verschoyle by 
 sight quite well, but this made no difference indeed, 
 it. rather provoked him to annoy Violetta. He came 
 close to her. 
 
 " Mercy on us," she heard him say. " How proud 
 we have grown. It's not like you, Violetta, to forget 
 old friends." 
 
 She felt intensely angry at the fellow's insolence. She 
 wouldn't have cared a bit had she been alone, but it was 
 horribly humiliating for her to know that Lord Ver- 
 schoyle should be made aware that she was acquainted 
 with so disreputable a blackguard as George Godfree. 
 
 In the contemptuous glance she cast at him she saw 
 that Godfree had further deteriorated since she last 
 met him. Not indeed in his dress ; for his clothes were 
 of the latest cut and had evidently been made by a 
 Bond Street tailor. But his face ! 
 
 Godfree had been " touching " money of late since 
 his association with Dan Westoby, and he had been 
 living like a fighting cock. The results were seen 
 in his blotched bloated cheeks, his watery eyes, and his 
 loose lips. Violetta looked at him in disgust. 
 
 Then her expression changed. By the side of Godfree 
 was a man whose hard, colourless face, cold eyes, and 
 thin lips, carried her memory back to Monte Carlo 
 to that eventful night when for the last time in her 
 life she acted as a mascotte at the gaming table.
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 185 
 
 The man on whom her gaze was resting was he for 
 whom she won 500, half of which he had insisted upon 
 handing over to her. Nothing but dire necessity had 
 induced her to accept it, and it had remained a burden 
 on her mind ever since. 
 
 She had often longed for the opportunity of returning 
 it, but how was it to be done when she did not know 
 the name of the man, or where he was to be found ? 
 
 And here he was raising his hat to her, a cold smile 
 lighting up his flinty face. She could not do otherwise 
 than acknowledge the salutation, and she did so with 
 the slightest possible inclination of her head. Godfree 
 she simply ignored. 
 
 " Will you hurry, please," she whispered to Lord 
 Verschoyle." " I want to get away from these men." 
 
 Verschoyle was much too chivalrous a gentleman 
 not to come to her rescue whatever he might think 
 of her knowing such riff-raff of the turf as George Godfree. 
 He slipped her hand beneath his arm as if to challenge 
 the others to question his right of possession. 
 
 Not a word passed until they were within the motor. 
 
 " I don't know whether I ought to explain why 
 those two men recognised me," said she. 
 
 " Certainly not. Why should you ? I'm not curious." 
 
 " That I quite believe. Well, some day I may tell 
 you. Mr. Godfree I know to be a dishonourable, 
 treacherous man. I've nothing to do with him, yet 
 for some reason he chooses to be offensive whenever 
 we chance to meet as we did just now. His companion 
 I can't say I know anything of. I met him once abroad, 
 and that is the extent of our acquaintance." 
 
 " I congratulate you. Dan Westoby's not a very 
 desirable man to have for a friend. I doubt if he has 
 one." 
 
 " I beg your pardon, Lord Verschoyle. What did 
 you say his name was ? " 
 
 " Dan Westoby. He's well known on every race 
 course. Better known than trusted, I should say.
 
 i86 
 
 More than one man's had reason to curse his acquaint- 
 anceship, poor Sir John Norman among the number. 
 How the deuce he managed to let the scoundrel get 
 hold of Normanhurst, I can't make out. It was a 
 swindle, I'll swear. You know Normanhurst, of course, 
 Miss Vaughan. It's not more than ten miles from the 
 Owl's Nest." 
 
 " Yes, I know the place," said Violetta, in a subdued 
 voice. 
 
 " Norman's one of the best of fellows, but an awful 
 fool in some things. He was beastly unlucky in his 
 marriage." 
 
 " So I've heard." 
 
 " Ever met him ? " 
 
 " Yes, but I haven't seen him for a long time." 
 
 There was no earthly reason apparently why they 
 should talk about Norman, but Violetta instinctively 
 guessed Lord Verschoyle's motive. He wanted to 
 avoid causing her embarrassment by any reference to 
 her unfortunate recognition of two undesirables and 
 she was grateful to him for his tact. 
 
 They reached the station, Violetta was conscious 
 of a restraint in Lord Verschoyle's manner. She was not 
 surprised, but all the same she felt intensely mortified. 
 Not that it mattered, she told herself. What was 
 Lord Verschoyle to her ? The present was but the 
 second time she had met him. No, it was of no con- 
 sequence, and after a few hours had gone by she would 
 probably forget the unpleasant episode. 
 
 But in her heart she knew it wouldn't be so. Some- 
 how she wanted to stand well in Lord Verschoyle's 
 sight, but had she been asked to say why, she would 
 have found it difficult to answer the question. Lord 
 Verschoyle's last utterances did not add to her 
 tranquillity. 
 
 " We shall be running across each other again, I hope, 
 Miss Vaughan. These chance meetings have a charm 
 of their own."
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 187 
 
 " Indeed they have. The unexpected is some- 
 times pleasant or the reverse more often the re- 
 verse." 
 
 She had no sooner left fall the words than she wished 
 she could have recalled them. They sounded like a 
 reference to what had happened, and as though the 
 incident was still rankling in her mind, whereas all along 
 she had been trying to make it appear that she regarded 
 it with indifference. 
 
 Lord Verschoyle put her into a carriage when the 
 train came up, and stood at the window until the guard's 
 whistle was heard. 
 
 " Well," said he, as he raised his hat, " I suppose our 
 next excitement will be the Derby. You gave me 
 such good advice over Killarney's mount to-day that 
 I shall be tempted to seek it again if I'm in a difficulty. 
 Au revoir." 
 
 All very nice, very flattering, very friendly in a 
 way but it had not the bluff heartiness of Lord Ver- 
 schoyle's usual speech. 
 
 Violetta sat back in her seat and sighed wearily. The 
 day which had begun so joyously had ended in vexation 
 of spirit. 
 
 " All is vanity. I suppose that's what everything 
 in this world comes to," she murmured. " I wonder 
 what Lord Verschoyle would have thought had I agreed 
 to accept his mother's invitation. I'm glad I didn't. 
 It might have forced me to give some explanation how 
 I came to know those two men. I doubt if I should 
 have the courage to tell him the truth." 
 
 It was odd the thought should cross her mind that 
 had Lord Verschoyle been Sir John Norman, she would 
 not have the same timidity. Yet Norman hated racing, 
 and all its associations ; and with the nobleman it 
 was just the reverse. Was it because Norman was as 
 Lord Verschoyle put it, " an awful fool ? " 
 
 But she did not trouble to decide the point. Dan
 
 i88 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 Westoby's pallid face expressionless save for a certain 
 suggestion of malignance came into her memory and 
 drove out everything else. 
 
 To think that she was under an obligation to this 
 unscrupulous trickster, who was held in utter contempt 
 by honest, straight-going racing men, was abhorrent, and 
 her self reproaches were all the more bitter because it 
 was he who had ruined Sir John Norman. 
 
 There was really nothing in her past life which was 
 personally to her discredit. It was rather the other 
 way about. Considering her surroundings at the Beak 
 Street. Club, and her associations and temptations in 
 Paris and Monte Carlo, the marvel was that she had 
 passed through such vicious circles unscathed. Her 
 knowledge of the seamy side of life had made her a 
 little cynical, but with that cynicism had come a tolerence 
 of the weaknesses of human nature which kept her 
 heart open to sympathy and generous impulses. 
 
 But what would outsiders think ven those who 
 might be charitably disposed towards her ? If all 
 were known, women would pass her by on the other 
 side, men would wink and smile and whisper innuendoes. 
 There had been times when Violetta would not have 
 cared a jot what the world said about her, but then 
 she was of no importance to herself. 
 
 It was different now ; for the first time in her life she 
 felt frightened. What a hold these two men George 
 Godfree and Dan Westoby had over her if they chose 
 to open their mouths ! Between them they practically 
 knew everything. Godfree could tell tales of the Beak 
 Street Club, and place his own construction upon 
 them. Westoby had doubtless heard all the slanderous 
 gossip at Monte Carlo concerning her. 
 
 She might steel herself against slander but not against 
 the truth. She could not contradict the fact that 
 Westoby had given her 250. Why ? For acting as a 
 mascotte and enabling him to win 500 ! Who would 
 believe such a fairy tale ? Violetta went hot and
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 189 
 
 cold at the interpretation which the malicious might 
 put upon the transaction. 
 
 " I'll not be in his debt a moment longer than I can 
 help even if it involves my disclosing that I'm the 
 tenant of the Owl's Nest. I'd rather that Westoby 
 did not know my address, but " 
 
 She stopped. The thought of another danger had 
 suddenly faced her. Westoby had probably made 
 himself intimately acquainted with Sir John Norman's 
 affairs. Supposing he knew that Norman owned the 
 Owl's Nest ? What conclusion would he draw from the 
 fact that she was living there ? Violetta had accepted 
 money from him, why shouldn't she accept the generosity 
 of Norman ? Not, of course, as a mascot te for Norman 
 had had anything but good luck but for some other 
 reason. 
 
 The position was intolerable, and made all the more 
 so because she could for the moment see no way of 
 safely extricating herself. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 ELLA ASSERTS HERSELF 
 
 VIOLETTA was busily occupied in going through her 
 accounts. Her bets on Killarney figured largely in them. 
 She had won over 500, 
 
 " That man must be paid back," she decided. " The 
 question is, how am I to get it to him ? He shan't 
 come here, anyhow." 
 
 It seemed to be a case of the mountain going to 
 Mahomet. Unpleasant, but there was no alternative. 
 She meant Westoby to give her a receipt and that 
 receipt would have to state the circumstances under 
 which he paid her the money. There must be no mistake 
 about that,
 
 igo A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 She had just locked up her books, and Mrs. Stubbles 
 had entered to consult her as to lunch, when there came 
 the loud clang of the outer door bell, followed by an 
 imperious rat-tat of the knocker. 
 
 A visitor most certainly. Tradesmen announced 
 themselves in a much more modest way. Violetta 
 looked at Mrs. Stubbles and Mrs. Stubbles looked at 
 her mistress. 
 
 For a minute or so Violetta's heart beats quickened. 
 Could the visitor be Lord Verschoyle ? Hardly. He 
 would not have shown so much impatience and 
 pomposity. 
 
 " Go and see who it is, Stubbles. If it be any stranger 
 be sure to ask their business. I'm not in a very good 
 humour this morning, and I don't feel inclined to be 
 bothered." 
 
 Mrs. Stubbles was not disposed to offer any contradic- 
 tion. She had already noticed Violetta's mood. She 
 disappeared and Violetta sat expectantly. Once she 
 glanced at the mirror and then shrugged her shoulders 
 disdainfully at her involuntary lapse into feminine 
 weakness. The impression lurked in her mind that 
 after all it might be Lord Verschoyle. 
 
 She heard the tones of a high-pitched voice, and the 
 softer accents of Mrs. Stubbles in reply. There was 
 something in the strained note of the voice that seemed 
 familiar, but she could not fix it. Then the housekeeper 
 came into the room looking a little flurried. 
 
 " A lady wants to see you, Miss." 
 
 " Did you ask her name ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes. She said it didn't matter. She must 
 see you she said quite snappy. She seems put out, 
 and nearly jumped down my throat. 
 
 This did not look promising. 
 
 " I suppose you'd better show her in here, Stubbles. 
 Though I hate people who won't give their names. 
 They nearly always come on some unpleasant busi- 
 pess."
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 191 
 
 Mrs. Stubbles went off, and presently the door opened 
 and in walked Ella Norman, her nose in the air and a 
 spot of scarlet on each cheek. Violetta, who knew her 
 thoroughly, saw that she had worked herself into a 
 violent passion. 
 
 " Well, upon my word," burst out the young lady 
 as soon as her rage would enable her to speak. But she 
 could say no more. 
 
 Violetta looked at her steadily, and showed no signs 
 of trepidation. Indeed, she felt none. Ella had cer- 
 tainly taken her by surprise that was all. 
 
 " Why not sit down ? " she remarked. " You might 
 find it easier to explain the object of your visit when 
 you're comfortable." 
 
 Violetta's manner and voice were the essence of 
 sweetness. It set Ella's passion seething. 
 
 " The object of my visit ? I should have thought 
 you'd have guessed it. I I aren't you ashamed of 
 yourself ? " she almost screamed. 
 
 " I don't think so. What have I to be ashamed of ? 
 If that question is all that has brought you here, you 
 might have saved yourself the trouble." 
 
 " I couldn't believe my ears when Mr. Barlowe told 
 me you were living here." 
 
 " Well, what of it ? I must live somewhere, I 
 suppose." 
 
 " But why all this secrecy ? Why didn't you write 
 to me?" 
 
 " Write to you ? After you virtually turned me out 
 of your house ? You're talking nonsense." 
 
 " Nonsense ? I consider your conduct disgraceful. 
 Simply shocking ! " 
 
 " Does it matter what you think ? " 
 
 " Answer me this aren't you what is the polite 
 term for a questionable connection under John's 
 protection ? I suppose you know what I mean ? " 
 
 Violetta's reply was to strike the alarm bell which was 
 on, the table. Mrs. Stubbles came in so quickly after
 
 192 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 the summons that she must have been listening outside 
 the door. 
 
 " Please show out this lady, Stubbles," said Violetta, 
 coldly. 
 
 " Well, of all the " 
 
 " I've nothing to say to you. I refer you to Mr. 
 Barlowe if you care to know what rent I pay." 
 
 " Rent ! I've no doubt you and my foolish brother 
 have managed the thing very nicely. I'm quite sure 
 the rent doesn't come out of your pocket." 
 
 " The door, please, Stubbles." 
 
 Violetta rose without haste and walked towards the 
 French window which was open. Without another word 
 she went into the garden and left her visitor speechless 
 with indignation. When she had sufficiently recovered 
 herself she turned to the housekeeper. 
 
 " Do you know Sir John Norman ? " she demanded, 
 haughtily. 
 
 " No, I don't," retorted Mrs. Stubbles, who was 
 nothing if not blunt.' 
 
 " I don't believe you. He comes here under another 
 name, most likely." 
 
 " That's false, beggin' your pardon, ma'am." 
 
 "Doesn't Miss Vaughan have a gentleman visitor ever?" 
 
 " I'm not here to answer impertinent questions. If 
 you want to know anything about Miss Vaughan you'd 
 better ask Miss Vaughan herself. So far as I'm con- 
 cerned, I may tell you that Miss Vaughan has no visitors, 
 man or woman. This is the way to the hall." 
 
 She opened the door and stood there, a sturdy janitor, 
 Ella would have dearly liked to vent her rage upon an 
 " inferior," but she had sense enough to see that she 
 would get from this buxom independent domestic as 
 good as she gave, and perhaps better, so she pocketed 
 her wrath and marched out of the room. Mrs. Stubbles 
 followed her and shut the front door after her with a 
 slam which spoke volumes as to her sentiments. Then 
 she joined her mistress in the garden,
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 193 
 
 " She's gone an' a good thing. Lor, what a wax she 
 was in," exclaimed Mrs. Stubbles with a heave of her 
 ample bosom. 
 
 Violetta had her back turned to the woman. When 
 she wheeled round, Mrs. Stubbles saw that her eyes were 
 moist and shining. 
 
 " Don't take on about her," exclaimed Mrs. Stubbles 
 sympathisingly. " I'll warrant you gave her a dressin' 
 down or she wouldn't ha' been so wild. A regular 
 vixen / call her. But there well, after it's all over 
 one can't help givin' way a bit. I s'pose we women 
 are built that way. Maybe it's all for the best." 
 
 " I dare say. We won't talk any more about it, 
 Stubbles." 
 
 Violetta mopped up the betraying tears that stood in 
 her eyes. She was angry with herself for showing signs 
 that Ella's words had wounded her so much. She 
 wished Mrs. Stubbles had not come upon her while 
 she was struggling with her emotion, but the woman 
 meant her intrusion kindly. 
 
 " She wanted to pump me about you, Miss," went on 
 the housekeeper, " but I wasn't taking any. Asked 
 me if Sir John Norman ever came to see you. Not 
 knowing nothing, I couldn't tell her nothing. What 
 I did say wasn't much short o' telling her she was a 
 liar." 
 
 " That'll do. I don't want to hear any more," 
 rejoined Violetta, a little chokingly. 
 
 Violetta had always prided herself upon her perfect 
 self control, but Ella's cruel insinuations were more than 
 she could bear, and for once she had broken down. 
 The ordeal had come upon her at a time when she was 
 least prepared for it. And the irony of the thing was 
 that the three men who had come into her life Norman, 
 Lord Verschoyle and Dan Westoby were nothing 
 to her. 
 
 Mrs. Stubbles wisely left her to herself, and after a 
 while she sat down upon a garden chair and allowed 
 
 M
 
 194 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 the cool, fresh spring air and the bright sunshine to 
 restore her nerves. 
 
 In a way this came about, but the recollection of that 
 passage of arms it had hardly lasted more than a couple 
 of minutes still rankled. 
 
 " I could have launched a bomb shell had I chosen," 
 she thought. " I'm sure she doesn't know that John 
 Norman has a wife and that wife the woman who 
 called herself Mrs. Willoughby Smythe. But it would 
 have been horridly mean of me to give the poor man 
 away." 
 
 Besides, it would have done her more harm than good. 
 It would have made it plain to Ella that John Norman 
 was thoroughly abandoned, and that she, Violetta 
 Vaughan, was quite aware of his supposed loose princi- 
 ples and had encouraged them. She quivered at the 
 thought of the story which a spiteful woman could 
 concoct on such a foundation. 
 
 As to her feelings towards John Norman, she could 
 hardly analyse them, had she cared to face the task. 
 She liked him as a companion. His amiability and 
 geniality could not be gainsaid. Violetta had a con- 
 siderable spice of romance about her perhaps her 
 varied life had had much to do with it, so much of that 
 life had been unusual and sometimes she had seen 
 herself acting as his guardian angel a role which most 
 women of good instincts love to play and well it is for 
 the world that it should be so but why she should 
 have this desire she could not explain. It certainly 
 did not spring out of what is called love. And the 
 odd thing was that if one judged by what Sir John 
 Norman had done and left undone, it could hardly be 
 said he was worth the sacrifice that a woman would 
 make to ensure his happiness. 
 
 But Violetta now saw Norman by the light of de- 
 preciation. At the same time by contrast with the 
 self-indulgent and depraved men she had encountered, 
 he was almost perfection, though she was quite conscious
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 195 
 
 of his shortcomings. Hence, because of Norman's 
 harmlessness and because of her own desire, out of pure 
 friendliness, to extricate him from his embarrassments, 
 Ella's insinuations were doubly shameful and doubly 
 galling. 
 
 She began to think that in associating herself with 
 Norman by renting the Owl's Nest, she had made a 
 mistake. Their relations, purely those of landlord 
 and tenant, could be so easily misconstrued. Yet he 
 had never been near her had never written her a 
 line. But who would believe it ? 
 
 " Well," at last she exclaimed, " it's the old story, I 
 suppose. ' Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, 
 thou shalt not escape calumny.' Anyway, I'm too 
 deeply in with horses and racing to go back. And I 
 don't think I want to go back. I love horses. They're 
 honest and faithful. And they can't talk. After all, 
 what Ella chooses to say about me isn't of much con- 
 sequence. But she'll go for Sir John. Poor chap, 
 I'm sorry for him." 
 
 As far as calumny went, George Godfree and Dan 
 Westoby were much more to be feared than Ella Norman. 
 
 Violetta had half determined to go to Westoby that 
 very day and force him to accept the 250, but after 
 what had happened her nerves were too strained. 
 
 " I must be at the very top of my form when I inter- 
 view that cold-blooded fellow," was the conclusion 
 she came to, and hearing the housekeeper's summons 
 for lunch, she went into the house in much her usual 
 unruffled demeanour. 
 
 Violetta was quite right in foreshadowing a bad 
 quarter of an hour for John Norman. Ever since her 
 departure from Thames-side, relations between him 
 and his sister had been somewhat strained, but there 
 had not been anything like an open rupture. 
 
 Norman had long been chafing at his dependance upon 
 Ella. It was her money which paid the rent of The 
 Willows and kept the household going. When she
 
 196 
 
 was in a bad temper she was not above reminding him 
 of his obligation to her. His enforced helplessness, 
 however, had had one good effect. It made him exert 
 himself, and he had succeeded in obtaining a Government 
 appointment which with economy (if he were capable 
 of such a virtue) would enable him to run his own 
 diggings. But with his temperamental inertness he 
 had put off announcing his intention. 
 
 Ella's return from her visit to the Owl's Nest and 
 the way she flew at him brought matters to a crisis. 
 
 Happily, or unhappily, he was in the mood to show 
 fight. Alf Richards as a detective had not turned 
 out a success. He had proved to be more like a sponge 
 than a 'tec. Money had the knack of slipping from 
 him or into him, as it mostly disappeared in the shape 
 of whiskey in the most aggravating fashion. 
 
 So far as any details as to Christine's mode of life 
 was concerned, he had plenty to say but the details 
 were repellant, and John Norman's sensitiveness 
 received a most disagreeable shock. No doubt, if 
 Richards was to be believed he would have no difficulty 
 in obtaining a divorce, but it meant descending into 
 a sordid story from which he shrank. 
 
 The worst point to Norman, however, was the fact 
 again, if Richards spoke the truth that the 
 man upon whom she bestowed her favours was George 
 Godfree. They were always together, reported 
 Richards. Not, said Alfred, always like turtle doves, 
 but more often like fighting cocks. But, considering 
 the tastes of both for champagne, whiskies and sodas, 
 and liqueurs, this mixture of moods was not surprising. 
 
 The upshot of the matter was that Norman had 
 determined upon dispensing with Alf's services, and 
 had told him on the very day of Ella's visit to the 
 Owl's Nest that he need not do any more detective 
 work, as he had got all the material he wanted and 
 more. He softened the blow by presenting Mr. 
 Richards with a treasury note over and above his
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 197 
 
 weekly allowance, but the amateur detective went away 
 looking very gloomy. 
 
 That evening Norman came home to dinner in a very 
 distracted mood, and the angry look upon Ella's face 
 he never noticed. He sat down to the table without 
 a word, served the soup and the fish and still remained 
 silent. 
 
 Meanwhile, Ella was fretting and fuming. She was 
 burning for him to give her an opening for unburdening 
 her soul, but she had no chance. Not that she could 
 have launched her grievance while the parlour maid was 
 hovering round, but she could have delivered some 
 irritating shafts apropos of nothing in particular and 
 so relieved her overcharged feelings. 
 
 At last she could bear the restraint no longer. 
 
 " What a cheerful companion you are, John," she 
 broke out. " You sit there solemn as an owl." 
 
 " I've nothing to say," he rejoined curtly. 
 
 " No ? Doesn't the reference to the owl stimulate 
 you ? " 
 
 Ella had got in one shot. She thought it remarkably 
 apt. 
 
 " I don't know what you're talking about." 
 
 " Really ? I should have thought the association 
 of ideas would have suggested something pleasant." 
 
 " It doesn't suggest anything at all. You're talking 
 in riddles. I hate riddles." 
 
 Ella gave him an acid smile. 
 
 " Very well. I'll give you the answer when we're 
 by ourselves." 
 
 Shot number two. Norman had afforded her the 
 chance she wanted but for the moment she would 
 hold her hand. 
 
 The dinner over, Norman lit a cigar and was about 
 to retire to his room when his sister held up her hand. 
 
 " Stay a moment, John, I want to talk to you. Do 
 sit down. I can't say what's in my mind while you're 
 wandering about like a wild beast at the Zoo."
 
 198 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 John did not look particularly well pleased, and he 
 threw himself into a chair with an air of resignation. 
 
 " What's it all about ? " 
 
 " The answer to what you were pleased to call my 
 riddle." 
 
 " Bother your riddle. Do for once talk sense." 
 
 " Oh, you shall have sense enough, my boy, I promise 
 you. I only said one of two words at dinner owl 
 and you did not understand, or pretended you didn't. 
 Had I said ' Owl's Nest ' it would, I fancy, have gone 
 home. Ha, ha ! " 
 
 There was something ominous in Ella's assumption 
 of hilarity, obviously forced. John Norman shrugged 
 his shoulders and made no reply. 
 
 " I've been to Owl's Nest to-day." 
 
 In spite of himself Norman started. He knew now 
 what was in his sister's mind. 
 
 " How nicely you've laid your heads together so that 
 I shouldn't know what you and that woman were up to." 
 
 A much milder tempered man than John Norman 
 would have been roused by Ella's offensive words, 
 accentuated as they were by her still more offensive 
 manner. 
 
 " And what have we been up to ? " he retorted, 
 flushing angrily. 
 
 " Don't try to put me off, please, because you won't. 
 I'm not a child. I suppose I know what the scandalous 
 business means. I'm not surprised that you wanted 
 to keep me in the dark. Of course, you've a right to do 
 as you like, but if you must mix yourself up in a dis- 
 graceful intrigue you might have had the decency 
 to keep your property out of it. I'm told that such 
 immoral arrangements as you have made with a woman, 
 who's little more than an adventuress, are common 
 enough in the West end of London. In the circles of 
 vice one expects " 
 
 Norman sprang to his feet. He had fairly boiled 
 over.
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 199 
 
 " Hold^your tongue," he shouted. " What you've 
 just said is a tissue of false slanderous assertions. I'll 
 listen to no more of them." 
 
 " Oh, I know the truth is always unpleasant. Do 
 you deny that you're paying for the keep of Violetta 
 Vaughan that it is into her pocket that your money 
 goes that in short, she is your mistress ? " 
 
 Ella uttered the last word with a great effort, as though 
 it were something that contaminated her lips. Her 
 face wore such a look of horror that had her brother 
 not been in such a towering passion, it must have struck 
 him as extremely comical. 
 
 " I deny every one of your libels." 
 
 " Of course you do. But you can't deceive me. 
 The woman had very little money when she came to 
 stay here. I saw evident signs of luxury where she 
 is now. I noticed a horse in the stables a sort of 
 poultry farm in miniature a couple of servants. She 
 can't keep up an establishment of that kind on nothing. 
 Where does her money come from, I ask you ? " 
 
 " And you may ask. I know no more about Miss 
 Vaughan's affairs than you do. Indeed, I should say 
 I know less, for you've visited her and / haven't." 
 
 " What does that matter ? No doubt you had her 
 reputation to consider. It is so easy to meet in town." 
 
 Norman quivered with rage. He could not believe 
 that his prim sister could say such things. 
 
 " Infamous," he cried. " You talked just now about 
 West end vice. It seems to me that you know as 
 much about it as any woman needs to know if she has 
 use for it." 
 
 It was Ella who was now in a paroxysm of rage, and 
 when she was in this mood her speech inclined to that 
 of the melodrama. 
 
 " If anybody had told me .you would have used such 
 vile language to your own flesh and blood, I I would 
 have struck the base slanderer to the earth," she screamed 
 hysterically.
 
 200 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " You brought it on yourself. I told you to hold 
 your tongue. As it is, we've only succeeded in irritating 
 one another. I can see but one thing left for me to do, 
 and that is to leave you to run this show by yourself. 
 We can't meet with any degree of satisfaction after 
 to-night," said Norman, cooling down. 
 
 " I quite agree, and I hope you'll go as soon as possible. 
 It's what I would have proposed but I didn't want you 
 to spread it abroad that I'd turned you out. I may 
 say that I contemplate certain changes here, and now 
 that you've plunged into what the dear vicar calls an 
 irregular life, your presence here would be most em- 
 barrassing both for him and for me." 
 
 Ella's emotional temperament permitted her to pass 
 from one mood to another with lightning rapidity. Her 
 fit of highflown indignation had disappeared, and she 
 now spoke with quite an air of relief. 
 
 John Norman stared, much puzzled by her announce- 
 ment. 
 
 " The dear vicar ! What the deuce has the dear vicar 
 got to do with it ? I don't see where he comes in." 
 
 " Then I'll tell you. I'm going to marry him." 
 
 " What, have you chucked young Percival ? " 
 
 " Pray don't use such vulgar expression. I've 
 ' chucked ' as you're pleased to term it, nobody. I 
 was never engaged to Mr. Percival." 
 
 " Weren't you ? I thought you and he had fixed up 
 matters. But it's no affair of mine. You can marry 
 whom you please and do as you like. I presume I'm 
 entitled to the same liberty." 
 
 Now that they had spoken their minds Norman in 
 his new found energy determined to start upon his 
 fresh path in life at once. 
 
 That night brother and sister parted coldly polite 
 to each other, and Norman put up at the Great Western 
 Hotel until he could secure a suitable rest for the sole 
 of his foot. 
 
 He began to realise the true cause of Ella's disposition
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 201 
 
 to treat him as a sort of pariah. She was eaten up by 
 the canker of ' respectability," and her marriage to a 
 parson would set its seal upon her destiny. Norman 
 was inclined to laugh when he thought what she would 
 have said had she known about Christine ! 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 VlOLETTA SHOWS FlGHT. 
 
 " THERE'S something going on at Gumley's that I 
 don't quite understand. You must find out, George." 
 
 So declared Dan Westoby in his coldest and most 
 deliberate manner. 
 
 " Not so easy, old man," rejoined the Honourable 
 George. " The place is guarded infernally close. Ever 
 since the Two Thousand, Peter's put on a double set 
 of watchers, and I tell you straight, Dan, they're not 
 to be got at." 
 
 " Exactly, and that's why I want to find out Peter's 
 game." 
 
 Westoby and George Godfree were seated at luncheon 
 in the stately dining-room of Normanhurst. It was 
 much the same as Sir John had left it for Westoby 
 had bought the furniture as well as the mansion and 
 park. 
 
 The bookmaker had an idea that when he became a 
 landed proprietor the gentry would receive him on equal 
 terms. He had been bitterly disappointed. He had 
 been snubbed all round. He could not even obtain 
 the distinction of being a made J.P. Except the 
 satisfaction of having dragged down the man he hated, 
 he had derived no pleasure from being the owner of 
 Normanhurst. 
 
 Perhaps had he flung his money about he would have
 
 202 
 
 been more successful, but fits of meanness kept his 
 purse strings tightly tied. He knew the hangers-on 
 of the turf too well to make friends of them They 
 were useful to him and that was all. George Godfree 
 was an exception, but that was because of Godfree's 
 family connections, and because he had been born a 
 gentleman and could call himself the Honourable George. 
 
 As a matter of fact, Westoby was a solitary man, and 
 he had begun to find Normanhurst a bore and a white 
 elephant. The upkeep of the place was a financial 
 burden without much compensation. He had occasional 
 thoughts of selling the property but this would have 
 been an admission of defeat, which for the moment 
 he did not feel inclined to face. 
 
 But since the Two Thousand he had discovered a 
 reason why he should hold on. A dream was hovering 
 about his brain. He was thinking of it now, but ap- 
 parently the mystery of Peter Gumley 's extra pre- 
 cautions was the only thing that occupied him. 
 
 " Peter's game's a deep one, you may bet your bottom 
 dollar on that, Dan," said Godfree, frowning. " I 
 guess Lord Verschoyle keeps a tight hand over him. 
 It was Verschoyle who insisted upon Gumley firing 
 Parsons and all the gang. He's got to know something." 
 
 " What's the meaning of Gumley taking on that boy 
 Tim Hollis again ? " said Westoby abruptly. " He 
 was one of the old gang, wasn't he ? " 
 
 " Well, he was and he wasn't," rejoined Godfree 
 with a short laugh. " Barney Moss got hold of him, 
 it's true, but he was rather a difficult fish to play. If 
 he hadn't been rubbed the wrong way by Peter he 
 wouldn't have opened his mouth ; as it was, Barney 
 had precious little out of him." 
 
 " Seen Parsons lately ? " 
 
 " Yesterday. He's always hanging about the Barley 
 Mow Seems in low water." 
 
 " So much the better. No love lost between him and 
 Gumley, eh ! '
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 203 
 
 " Not as much as a bee's knee." 
 
 " And I should think he ought to know the ins and outs 
 of Holberry Down at his fingers' ends, You must work 
 him, George. We must see the next trial spin. If 
 Killarney loses the Derby it'll about sew me up. But 
 he can't lose with Tom Allworth on his back." 
 
 " What ! do you mean to say you've backed him ? " 
 cried Godfree. 
 
 " Yes, why not ? I suppose it's open to me to 
 back a horse as well as take odds against him ? " 
 
 " I don't deny it. But it's not like you. I've heard 
 you say that if it weren't for the jugginses backing 
 horses the bookies couldn't live." 
 
 " And I still say it. But once in a way a juggins 
 pulls it off. Killarney 's a dead cert. Why shouldn't 
 I take advantage of it ? It's my whim, so shut up." 
 
 Godfree shrugged his shoulders and veered round to 
 his patron's way of thinking that Quicksand's form at 
 Newmarket was but a fluke. 
 
 " At the same time, governor, if Tom Allworth hadn't 
 been on Killarney I do believe Quicksand would have 
 beaten him." 
 
 " And so do I. That's where the devil interfered. 
 You hadn't got your ears and eyes open, George." 
 
 " How the dickens could we tell Verschoyle was going 
 to put up Tom Allworth at the last moment ? Quick- 
 sand beat him when the two were tried together." 
 
 " Barney Moss got that bit of news for us, didn't he ? " 
 
 " Yes, and he was well paid for it. He must have 
 known more than he told us, the sneak. He and his 
 crown backed Killarney for all they were worth. We 
 were nearly sold." 
 
 " Mind it doesn't happen again, George. We'll see 
 Gumley's next trial with our own eyes. Parsons must 
 manage it for us. Enough of this. What about the 
 girl we saw with Verschoyle ? Found out anything 
 about her ? " 
 
 Godfrey eyed his patron closely. He was wondering
 
 204 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 why Westoby took so much interest in Violetta. The 
 bookmaker was as a rule quite indifferent to women. 
 His ideas about them on the few occasions when he 
 talked on the subject were not elevating. He regarded 
 women as created to squeeze what she could out of man. 
 She would, he held, get anything to benefit herself 
 whether in the way of her pocket or of her personal 
 adornment. Judging from his experience of the 
 majority of women whose acquaintance he had made 
 on the race course possibly he was right. 
 
 His sentiments were perfectly well known to George 
 Godfrey and the latter could not conceive Dan regarding 
 Violetta in any other light than as a woman to be 
 bought. Whether this was so or not didn't matter a 
 rap to the Honourable George. His game was to 
 make his services useful. If Dan Westoby paid him well, 
 and he was able at the same time to indulge his spite 
 against Violetta, he would have a double satisfaction. 
 
 " Have I found out anything about her ? My dear 
 chap, there's precious little I don't know, excepting 
 perhaps what she did during the time she was in France." 
 
 " Yes, you hinted as much before," rejoined Westoby, 
 impatiently. " Have you found out where she's living ? 
 That's the point." 
 
 George Godfree's blood-shot eyes glinted maliciously. 
 
 " Quite so. It's a bit of a find and I guess you'll 
 open your eyes when I tell you. It cost me a fiver to 
 oil the tongues of the gossips at the Barley Mow." 
 
 " The Barley Mow ! What the devil's the Barley 
 Mow got to do with her ? " 
 
 " Simply this. She's living at the Owl's Nest, and 
 her place isn't two miles from the pub. There's nothing 
 the loafers of the bar parlour like better than to chew 
 over the bits of scandal about the ' Quality.' " 
 
 " Well." 
 
 " What they don't know they invent, and, by Jove, 
 a story in their mouths doesn't lose by telling. The 
 tale is that Sir John Norman, once my old pal, set her
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 205 
 
 up there and is looking after her welfare. The Owl's 
 Nest belongs to Norman, you know." 
 
 " I didn't know curse him." 
 
 " Well, it does, and a snugger cage for a pretty bird 
 it would be difficult to find." 
 
 Westoby's lips tightened and his nostrils twitched. 
 Godfree watched him narrowly. 
 
 " From what I know of her past and present I should 
 say that there's a lot of truth at the bottom of the story. 
 The Hebe of the buffet in a club where some of the 
 rowdiest boys on the turf were to be seen, isn't likely 
 to be very particular. But, touching Norman. By a 
 stroke of luck, Christine, who's the cleverest of devils 
 when she keeps from the cham. and chartreuse, came 
 across both her and Norman when she was doing the 
 spiritualistic fake and the Christian Science wheeze, 
 and making a good thing out of both. It was at Thames- 
 side, up the river, and she got taken up by the vicar, 
 till he was told something about her that made him 
 drop poor Christine like a hot potatoe. It's as good 
 as a play to hear her take off his reverence " 
 
 " That'll do. I don't want to hear about Christine. 
 I know all her doings." 
 
 " Do you ? I doubt it," returned Godfree, with a 
 hoarse laugh. " She wants a bit of knowing. Anyhow, 
 she figures in the story. She was invited to a seance 
 at a riverside villa where Norman and his sister were 
 living, and while she was there Norman and Violetta 
 Vaughan came back from a motor joy ride. They'd 
 been out all day it appeared. Norman's sister, who is 
 a bit of a spitfire, was in a rare wax. Christine learned 
 that the next day she packed off Violetta bag and 
 baggage. Of course, Norman was on the job, and 
 that was how she comes to be living in that secluded 
 shanty of his, the Owl's Nest." 
 
 Westoby's face became harder and harder as he 
 listened to this recital of facts ornamented by fictional 
 conclusions.
 
 206 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " How came she to be gadding about at Newmarket 
 with Verschoyle ? " he burst out. 
 
 " Ask me another, my dear chap. You're not a baby 
 in the ways of women. Draw your own inferences, and 
 while you're doing that draw me a cheque. I guess 
 I've made the way easy for you. It's half the battle 
 when you know the sort of woman you're after. Five 
 tens wouldn't hurt you. I wasn't bound to tell you 
 anything, you know. Dirty work ought to be well paid." 
 
 Westoby pulled out his cheque book and wrote a 
 cheque for the desired amount. 
 
 " There you are, Judas," he hissed. 
 
 Godfree laughed. He was used to Westoby 's ways. 
 
 " Get on now to Parsons and don't mess the thing 
 up," snarled Westoby. 
 
 The tone and manner were those of a master to a 
 servant, and the Honourable George's face momentarily 
 flushed. But he dared not resent the book-maker's 
 contempt and tyranny. 
 
 Three days went over. Violetta, by sheer force of 
 will, had recovered her equanimity. Had she chosen 
 to dwell upon her disappointments she would have been 
 thoroughly miserable. She had half hoped that Lord 
 Verschoyle would have been tempted to call, but he 
 came not. 
 
 " Why should he ? You're a fool to think he would 
 after seeing that choice sample of my acquaintances. 
 He must be feeling jolly glad I didn't accept his promised 
 invitation to his mother's dinner party. I suppose I 
 shall be honoured with a distant bow if I should chance 
 to meet him with any of his relations, and with a sort 
 of patronising familiarity if he should be alone. That's 
 how men treat women who've gone down in their esti- 
 mation. I've seen that kind of thing over and over 
 again." 
 
 Immediately after pronouncing this judgment she 
 was inclined to make a reservation in favour of his 
 lordship. In whatever he did he would be a gentleman.
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 207 
 
 As for Norman, his silence had first surprised and 
 then slightly angered her. Having taken her fully 
 into confidence, he had dropped her. Why ? She 
 could find no reason, but after Ella's base insinuations 
 she was glad he had never written nor sought to see 
 her. No one who knew the facts could cast a stone 
 either at her or him. 
 
 But, as she thought, with a shrug of the shoulders, 
 what do facts matter where scandalous tongues are 
 at work ? 
 
 Notwithstanding that Norman had to a certain extent 
 dropped out of her dreams of the future, the sudden 
 appearance of Dan Westoby and his identity with 
 the man of her " mascotte " days impressed her strangely, 
 and brought to life the romanticism of her nature. 
 It had once pleased her to let her fancy rove in the 
 regions of the ideal when she saw herself the central 
 figure of a story which was to have a happy ending in 
 restoring to Norman his ancestral house. She did not 
 know exactly how this was to be done, and Norman 
 himself had rather knocked the bottom out of her 
 fanciful weavings by his confession. Of late she had 
 ceased to speculate about him and herself save on 
 one point. 
 
 That point was closely allied to her romanticism. 
 She had never cast aside the impression that she brought 
 good luck to other people. Though she had ceased 
 to be a " mascotte," she still believed in her powers. 
 As she had at Monte Carlo told the man who had proved 
 to be Dan Westoby, she had not the slightest idea why 
 she should possess this occult influence. All she could 
 say was that such was the fact. 
 
 And with this conviction firmly fixed in her mind, she 
 had governed all her speculative plunges by the idea 
 that she was acting for Norman and not for herself. 
 It might be said to be a species of self delusion, but 
 whether or not she had hitherto not had a failure. 
 Of course, she herself would benefit by her successes, but
 
 208 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 this was a minor consideration. She had as a Monte 
 Carlo " mascotte " steadily refused anything but a fair 
 remuneration and she would continue to do so. It 
 was no doubt a " fad," but " fads " have a strange 
 individualistic influence incapable of explanation. 
 
 The startling entry of Westoby into her life had 
 made a considerable difference in her views. She now 
 had a strange personal interest in wresting Normanhurst 
 from the man who had deposed its rightful owner. 
 She had no cause for hating Westoby, it was purely the 
 antagonism she felt against him. But with Violetta this 
 was quite enough. 
 
 So it came about that the sympathy with Norman 
 and her desire to help him receded into the background, 
 and a yearning to pit herself against Westoby occupied 
 the first place. 
 
 In spite of all this, Violetta felt that for the moment 
 she had not nerve enough to take the bold step of 
 calling on Westoby. She had worked herself up into 
 hating the man, but neither his questionable reputation 
 nor his intimacy with her avowed enemy George Godf ree 
 had anything to do with that hatred. The cause was 
 something which worked upon her indignation and 
 galled her to the quick. She knew that her character 
 and much of her past were in his hands. And she 
 felt helpless. 
 
 Violetta brooded over the position until it began to 
 dash her spirits, and she felt the want of some mental 
 tonic. It came in the shape of a note from Peter 
 Gumley, which arrived by post. 
 
 " Dear Miss Vaughan," he wrote. " I should much 
 like you to see the horses run. I'm going to have a 
 trial at night. I've reason to believe that spies are 
 about, so I send this by post instead of messenger, 
 who might be watched. To-morrow night the moon 
 will be at the full, and if the present weather continues 
 it ought to be almost as light as day. Come over 
 about nine. I shouldn't ride if I were you, nor travel
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 209 
 
 direct. Take a roundabout route. We can't be too 
 careful. All going well. Yours respectfully, Peter 
 Gumley." 
 
 Violetta felt a strange sense of elation. Here was 
 something to fight against. The prospect of a battle 
 of wits always put her in a good humour. She carried 
 out Gumley 's instructions to the letter. 
 
 A few fleecy clouds flecked the sky when Violetta 
 reached the trainer's house. Gumley was awaiting 
 her. There was a shade of anxiety in his face. 
 
 " Are you sure you weren't dogged ? " said he. 
 
 " Quite sure that is to say, I saw no one at all 
 suspicious. I set out from my place as if I weren't 
 coming here. I came round by Normanhurst." 
 
 " That was rather risky, wasn't it ? " 
 
 " No. I thought it was the best thing. If you're in 
 any fear of Westoby's people they'd hardly think I 
 should go in his direction." 
 
 " Perhaps you're right. What troubles me is that 
 blackguard Parsons. He's been nosing about here these 
 last two or three days. Anyway, all is in readiness, 
 so come along." 
 
 The two went into the paddock. The horses were 
 out for a gentle walk to stretch their legs previous to 
 the trial. There they were, the three beauties, 
 Killarney, Quicksand, and Belphegor. Violetta's heart 
 bounded when she saw how the action and bearing of 
 her favourite had improved. 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Gumley, how splendid he looks ! " she 
 cried enthusiastically. 
 
 " Aye, and I'll go bail his running will be just as 
 good." 
 
 " Who's up ? " 
 
 " Tim, of course. I wouldn't trust any other boy 
 on his back." 
 
 " That's right. Who'll ride Killarney I mean for 
 the Derby ? Tom All worth, I suppose."
 
 210 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " Yes, Tom's booked for the Derby, but for the 
 moment it's a dead secret." 
 
 " Where does to-night's run end ? " 
 
 " At yonder post. Wait here and see 'em come in." 
 
 Violetta purposely avoided making herself known 
 either to Tim or to Belphegor. She wanted the trial 
 to be carried out fairly and squarely on its merits. 
 
 The horses were walked to the starting place, and 
 Gumley's head groom set them going. Violetta and 
 the old trainer watched and waited. 
 
 It was an exciting struggle, and to Violetta all the 
 more so because of the solitude and silence. There 
 was no bustle, no roar of a tumultous crowd, no buzz 
 of tongues to relieve the strain on the nerves. 
 
 Soon the quick sullen thud of hoofs became distinctly 
 audible. Violetta, looking direct at the advancing 
 horses, could not determine which was ahead. They 
 seemed to be in a cluster. Gumley's more experienced 
 eyes, however, told him that Killarney was a little in 
 front, and he said so. 
 
 " But that means nothing," he added. " They're 
 only through the first half of the spin. The last bit 
 will tell. It's a little uphill." 
 
 " Oh, if only Belphegor puts out all his strength ! " 
 cried Violetta, clasping her hands. " He's got it in 
 him, I'm sure." 
 
 " I'll go bail Tim'll see to that. I never see a boy so 
 wrapped up in a horse. They're pals, and that's a 
 fact." 
 
 On they came. At three hundred yards or so from 
 the post they were level, and at a hundred yards Bel- 
 phegor began to draw away from his companions. He 
 gradually drew ahead and won by a length. It was a 
 dead heat between Killarney and Quicksand. 
 
 Violetta rushed to Belphegor, stroked his nose and 
 caressed his neck. The horse knew her. Then she held 
 out her hand to Tim, whose eyes glistened. 
 
 " I knowed he'd do it, miss, when he'd got fair play,"
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 211 
 
 gasped Tim, who was breathless with exertion and 
 excitement. 
 
 " Yes, and he must do it again at the Derby," said 
 she. 
 
 " You bet he will if I'm on him." 
 
 Violetta turned to Gumley. 
 
 " What will Lord Verschoyle say to this, Peter? " 
 
 " It's a bit awkward. He's pretty deep in with 
 Killarney, though I warned him the Derby wouldn't 
 be the sure thing the Two Thou, was." 
 
 " Did you say anything about Belphegor ? " 
 
 " No ; I wasn't confident about him or about Tim 
 either. He's come along wonderful since then." 
 
 Violetta was silent for a few minutes. Then she 
 looked up with a shade of vexation in her voice. 
 
 " I wish you'd invited Lord Verschoyle to-night. 
 He ought to have seen the trial considering he's so 
 interested in it. It would have been playing the game, 
 wouldn't it ? " 
 
 " I suppose it would," rejoined Gumley with an 
 apologetic cough. " But I didn't know how you'd 
 take it." 
 
 " How I'd take it ? Why on earth should I object ? " 
 
 "Well, you see, Miss, the thing had to be kept so 
 close on account of Dan Westoby." 
 
 " Yes, I know, but Lord Verschoyle's a gentleman. 
 He's to be trusted." 
 
 " Of course of course. Anyhow, the thing's done 
 and can't be undone." 
 
 " Yes it can. You must let Lord Verschoyle know 
 as soon as possible. Remember, I insist upon it." 
 
 Gumley was a little puzzled over Violetta's manifesta- 
 tion of feeling. And; indeed, Violetta herself was 
 puzzled. It seemed to her, however, that as things had 
 turned out, it might be said that she had been con- 
 spiring with Peter Gumley against his lordship. But 
 had Belphegor failed, what then ? It was a point she 
 could not decide off-hand.
 
 212 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " How does the betting on Belphegor stand ? " said 
 she. 
 
 " Ten to one. The bookmakers want less odds. 
 Before the Two Thou, you could have got twenty to one." 
 
 " I did," rejoined Violetta quietly. 
 
 The trainer gave a long whistle. 
 
 " Up to how much ? " 
 
 " A 100." 
 
 " Who's the man who took you ? " 
 
 " Dan Westoby. I chose him purposely. The bet's 
 not in my name. I booked it through my old friend, 
 William Burrup." 
 
 " H'm. If Dan Westoby knew of to-night's result 
 he'd say his 2,000 was as good as gone." 
 
 " I suppose he'd get it back and more by Killarney 
 losing. Killarney 's hot favourite just now." 
 
 " That's so. But he wouldn't be if this trial gets 
 talked about. I've done my level best to keep every- 
 thing as close as wax, but stable secrets have a nasty 
 way of oozing out." 
 
 " I might get on the first thing to-morrow at ten 
 to one," said Violetta, reflecting. 
 
 " You might." 
 
 " I happen to know Burrup's in town. I shall go 
 to London to-night and see him. Shall I put a bit 
 on for you ? " 
 
 " No ; that would never do. It would upset the 
 show if it were known that I was booking bets." 
 
 " I should take care it wasn't known but please 
 yourself. Good-night, Mr. Gumley. If I hurry I shall 
 just catch the next train." 
 
 She sped away, and the old trainer's looks followed 
 her. Scratching his chin, the while he muttered : 
 
 " Mercy on me, when a woman takes on a hobby, 
 whether its horses or anything else, she goes the whole 
 hog. What did she pick out Westoby for ? " 
 
 Peter couldn't answer the question and he didn't try. 
 He could only shake his head,
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 213 
 
 " The gell may be right, but " well, there was a 
 
 volume in that " but." 
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 QUITS ! 
 
 As Peter feared, somebody in his establishment said 
 " something." Belphegor's price suddenly went from 
 ten to one to five to one. The favourite stood at three 
 to one. On the morning of the third day after the 
 trial spin, Peter had a visit from Dan Westoby. The 
 trainer received the bookmaker civilly but coldly. 
 
 " I've called to see you, Gumley, about that tricky 
 horse of yours, Belphegor," said Westoby, going straight 
 to the point, as was his wont. " Some six months 
 ago you offered him to me at my own price." 
 
 " Aye, and you refused a deal." 
 
 " Well, I've altered my mind. Name your figure." 
 
 " Can't be done, Mr. Westoby. The matter's out 
 of my hands." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " I mean that I've sold the horse." 
 
 " You might have given me the chance, anyway," 
 said Westoby, his brows contracting. 
 
 " You had the chance, Sir, and you let it slip." 
 
 Westoby inwardly was raging, but his habitual self- 
 command concealed any outward expression beyond a 
 tightening of the thin lips. 
 
 " Who's bought the brute ? " said he, after a pause. 
 
 " Man named Humphries took a fancy to him, and 
 naming me a fair price, I closed with his offer." 
 
 " Humph. Who's this Humphries ? Where's he to 
 be found ? " 
 
 " That's my business, Mr. Westoby."
 
 214 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " Very well. I'll make it mine, too." 
 
 " You can do as you like about it." 
 
 Dan Westoby said no more. The parting between 
 him and Peter verged upon the hostile. 
 
 The bookmaker had been ill-served by George Godfree. 
 Of course there was a woman at the bottom of the 
 matter Violetta, though in a roundabout way. The 
 50 which Godfree had extracted from Westoby for 
 telling him where Violetta might be found was the 
 Honourable George's undoing. 
 
 The trial spin had come off on the very night George 
 received his instructions and the cheque. Godfree 
 had got on the track of Parsons, who in some mysterious 
 way had had the tip concerning Belphegor's wonderful 
 running. Parsons parted with the secret for a fiver, 
 and told Godfree something besides which had he but 
 known was worth as much more. Godfree could not 
 see that the information would lose anything by his 
 keeping it to himself for twenty-four hours, and burning 
 for a night's debauch went off to London for that purpose. 
 
 Full of importance, George, saturated with champagne 
 and brandy, let out to his pals a good deal of what he 
 knew, and in a wonderfully short time the result was 
 seen in the rapid shortening of the odds, greatly to 
 Westoby's bewilderment. Godfree 's night of dissipation 
 required a day for recovery, and forty-eight hours 
 went over before he saw Westoby and told him what 
 had happened. But he said not a word about the 
 other item of gossip which Parsons had mentioned. 
 This item was that Belphegor had been in Violetta's 
 possession for a short time. Parsons could not explain 
 why, but he imagined that Violetta, having succeeded 
 in soothing the horse's savage temper, had had him 
 in her keeping to complete the cure. The important 
 fact that he did not know, was that she had bought the 
 horse. 
 
 Westoby was maddened by the news. Violetta had 
 completely mystified him. He had never forgotten
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 215 
 
 her success as a " mascotte." He had found out that 
 she had backed Killarney for the Two Thou., and he had 
 no doubt she would follow her luck and back him also 
 for the Derby. Some curious superstitious feeling 
 had led him to alter his tactics, and he had involved 
 himself heavily in his support of the favourite. Violetta 
 had once brought off a coup in his favour. Why 
 shouldn't she do it again ? 
 
 The unexpected issue of the trial spin had altered 
 everything. If Belphegor won the Derby he was a 
 broken man. In addition to backing Killarney, he 
 had accepted the odds against Belphegor, and he stood 
 to lose both ways if Belphegor won. The Derby Day 
 was so close that there was little chance of his hedging 
 successfully. The racing public had gone mad over 
 Killarney and Belphegor, and would hardly look at 
 any of the other entries. 
 
 Westoby returned to Normanhurst much perturbed, 
 even agitated. It was a new sensation for a man who 
 had always believed in his iron nerves. For the first 
 time in his life his brain refused to grapple with the 
 complicated process of " making a book." Moreover, 
 he was beset by the constantly recurring image of 
 Violetta Vaughan. She intruded into his thoughts. 
 He took up his betting book, and threw it down im- 
 patiently. He glanced through the latest racing odds 
 in that morning's sporting paper, the figures danced 
 before his eyes. 
 
 " Curse the jade," he muttered. " Who the devil 
 is she acting for ? Norman or Verschoyle ? " 
 
 Westoby had been the clever show mathematical 
 boy of his grammar school. He was the " lightning 
 calculator," who astonished the examiners. He had 
 on leaving school entered a stockbroker's office and 
 was found a treasure by his employer. He could reel 
 off the fluctuating quotations of the day with an accuracy 
 and a nicety of fractional details truly marvellous. His 
 cold temperament remained undisturbed by women.
 
 216 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 But there must have been something in his frigidity 
 and air of composed masterfulness which had their 
 influence on the emotional Alice Forbes, the stock- 
 broker's daughter. He cared nothing for her, but he 
 saw his way to his own advancement if the father 
 consented to receive him as a son-in-law. 
 
 Westoby had no notion of a secret marriage, and 
 he coolly broached the subject to the stockbroker. The 
 latter was highly indignant, and informed his pre- 
 sumptuous clerk that he intended his daughter to marry 
 Sir John Norman, one of his best clients indeed, 
 the matter was practically settled. He wound up by 
 suggesting the advisability of Westoby transferring 
 his services elsewhere to prevent embarrassment. 
 
 Westoby, of course, knew Norman and had always 
 disliked him for no reasons other than envy and an- 
 tagonism. Norman's easy well-bred manner was such 
 a contrast to his own. Added to this, was the convic- 
 tion that he could never acquire the air of a gentle- 
 man. 
 
 He went out of Forbes' office hating Norman with 
 all the venom of a malignant nature. He made a 
 lucky " plunge," became a member of the Stock Ex- 
 change and then his luck turned. He was " ham- 
 mered," turned outside broker, engaged in some shady 
 transaction, vanished for a year or two and reappeared 
 as a successful " bookie." Eventually, as we know, 
 his chance came to revenge himself upon Sir John 
 Norman. 
 
 Abstemious by temperament and system, he had 
 not the relief in stimulants which on occasions most men 
 seek. Teetotalism may tend to affect the brain as 
 injuriously as excess. Westoby thought that abstention 
 from alcohol kept his mind clear. He forgot that the 
 mind depends upon the nerves. Just now his nervous 
 system was in a tumult, and he paced the room a prey 
 to intense vexation and chagrin. 
 
 A rap came at the door. A servant entered. A lady
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 217 
 
 had called, said the maid. She wanted to see Mr. 
 Westoby on business. 
 
 "Who is she ? What's her name ? " he rapped out. 
 
 " Wouldn't tell me, sir. I asked her." 
 
 Westoby was silent for a moment. He decided that 
 whoever the visitor might be he would see her. She 
 would distract his thoughts and that was what at 
 that moment he wanted most. 
 
 The servant ushered in the visitor Violetta. 
 
 Westoby stared at her blankly. She looked in- 
 finitely more attractive in her well-fitting sober toned 
 dress than she did in the butterfly costume suitable 
 to Monte Carlo. 
 
 " You," he faltered. " Pray sit down." 
 
 Scarcely knowing what he said or did, he moved a 
 chair towards her. She took no notice. 
 
 " The business that has brought me here, Mr. Westoby, 
 won't take two minutes. I want to return the 250 
 I received from you at Monte Carlo. Will you count 
 the notes and see that they are correct ? " 
 
 " No, I won't," he returned, brusquely. " The 
 money's yours. It was fairly earned. I'll not take it." 
 
 " That's a matter of indifference to me. I shall 
 leave it all the same. I wish you good morning." 
 
 She laid the notes on the table, and turned to quit 
 the room. 
 
 " Stop," he shouted. " You're not going like that. 
 You've no right. I've done you no injury. I've never 
 offended you so far as I can tell. If I have, I apologise. 
 Just think. We parted as strangers, but now that I 
 know who you are and you know me, the thing's different. 
 I want an explanation." 
 
 " Of what ? " 
 
 " Why you bring me these notes with an air as though 
 they were contaminated." 
 
 " It's my whim. I've nothing more to say/' she 
 returned steadily. 
 
 " But / have, and you must listen. It's only fair."
 
 2i8 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 A qualm of conscience seized Violetta. There was 
 reason in what he said. He had done her no wrong, 
 but she hated to be under an obligation to him. 
 
 " Do you remember the offer of partnership I made 
 you at Monte Carlo ? " 
 
 " Yes. My answer was no." 
 
 " Exactly, but at that time you did not know me. 
 It did not occur to you that this place Normanhurst 
 was mine." 
 
 " What of that ? " 
 
 " I offer it to you now. I should fancy it was pref- 
 erable to the Owl's Nest. Aren't you tired of that 
 weak-kneed Norman ? " 
 
 He thought to surprise her. She heard him quite 
 composedly. 
 
 " May I ask you what you mean ? " 
 
 " Bah ! You know quite well. From what I hear, 
 you've thrown him over for Lord Verschoyle. Sort of 
 thing one would expect. Here, as my wife, you'd 
 be free from scandal." 
 
 " I'm a topic of scandal, am I ? " 
 
 He laughed derisively. 
 
 " How can you escape being so with your record ? " 
 
 " And who knows what you're pleased to call my 
 record beyond you and George Godfree ? If there's 
 any scandal about me it's been spread by one or the 
 other, possibly by both. I'm glad to learn this. If 
 ever anything concerning myself comes to my ears I 
 need not trouble to ask who are the scandal mongers." 
 
 His white face broke into pale yellow patches. His 
 cold eyes suddenly blazed. 
 
 " I've not said a word about you, but I could. I 
 was not deaf to the gossip at Monte Carlo. Personally, 
 I don't care a hang what character you bear. What 
 you're doing now mascotte to the backers of horses 
 as you were a mascotte to gamblers doesn't trouble 
 me excepting that I want you for my mascotte. You 
 were once, you know, and why not again ? I'll swear
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 219 
 
 I paid you on a much more liberal scale than either 
 Norman or Verschoyle may be doing now. I won't 
 touch this money. Put it in your pocket. It'll buy 
 you a few diamonds." 
 
 The insinuation was gross it was unpardonable. 
 For the first time Violetta showed emotion. Her lips 
 quivered slightly and then became firm. Grasping 
 the notes he had pushed towards her, she tore them 
 across and across, flung the fragments contemptuously 
 in his face, and without a word walked out of the room. 
 It was as though she had slashed him with a whip. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 LORD VERSCHOYLE MAKES THE PLUNGE 
 
 VIOLETTA'S outburst of emotion did not last long. The 
 fresh air and the bright sun restored her nerves to 
 their usual tone. Before she passed through the lodge 
 gate of Normanhurst, she felt a sense of elation, of 
 triumph creep over her. 
 
 The cause was not far to seek. She had now a definite 
 reason for hating Westoby. Her instincts had not 
 deceived her. The man was a mercenary cad. She 
 could not feel sufficiently glad that she had got even 
 with him that she was not under the slightest obliga- 
 tion. As for his base insinuations, she brushed them 
 aside as she would some noisome insect. 
 
 She returned home by train. There was no direct 
 railway route and the journey entailed some two miles 
 on foot. But excellent walker as she was, this was of 
 no consequence. 
 
 Still, what with this and the strain on her nerves 
 which she had gone through, she found the ascent to 
 the Owl's Nest somewhat fatiguing, and at the bend
 
 220 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 half way up she paused to rest and take breath. While 
 she was standing, her hand to her side, she heard the 
 scrunching of the loose gravel path ahead of her and 
 suddenly someone came round the corner with a long 
 swinging stride. It was Lord Verschoyle. 
 
 She saw at once that his expression was unusually 
 sombre. It instantly changed, however, when his 
 glance rested upon her and he quickened his pace. 
 
 " This is real luck," he exclaimed gaily. " They 
 told me at your place that you were out and that it was 
 uncertain when you'd be back. I was plunged in 
 desolation. But now " 
 
 He held out his hand and retained hers, while his 
 keen grey eyes went rapidly over her face. 
 
 " You look horribly fagged," said he bluntly. " What 
 have you been doing ? " 
 
 " This rough hilly road is always very trying, es- 
 pecially when one is tired." 
 
 Without a word he drew her hand inside his arm and 
 they walked slowly up the ascent. In truth she was 
 glad of his support, as much because of his strong 
 cheery presence as because of his physical help. 
 
 Presently he broke the silence. 
 
 " You see, I've kept my word. I've called upon you. 
 You didn't think I would." 
 
 " I've never thought about it." 
 
 " No ? How disappointing to me, I mean." 
 
 And really a shadow seemed to flit across his face. 
 
 " I'm sorry. But now that you're here, you're very 
 welcome." 
 
 There was sincerity in her tone. The contrast be- 
 tween Lord Verschoyle's frank, hearty manner, and 
 the dry, saturnine air of Dan Westoby was very re- 
 freshing. 
 
 " I believe you mean that," he rejoined, with 
 emphasis. 
 
 They reached the gate and he held it open while she 
 passed in.
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 221 
 
 " You have a charming little place here," said he, " an 
 ideal retreat. I took the liberty of walking round the 
 garden. It's tended, I can see, by someone who loves 
 flowers." 
 
 " I believe everyone in my small household does." 
 
 " Yes, but I can trace the master mind. Yours, I'll 
 swear." 
 
 " Oh, I daresay I've something to do with it. But 
 you must see the inside of the house." 
 
 The sound of the clock striking the hour came through 
 the open French windows. 
 
 " Four o'clock. Is it too early to offer you a cup of 
 tea ? " 
 
 " I shall be delighted to accept your hospitality at 
 any hour of the day, but more especially now, as I can 
 see that tea is the one thing you want." 
 
 " You're really an ' understanding ' man," she said, 
 smilingly. " You'll excuse me while I look up my right 
 hand woman. Do please smoke meanwhile. I shan't 
 be long." 
 
 They had entered the pleasant low-ceilinged room 
 through the French windows. She hastened away, 
 leaving him to amuse himself as best he might. 
 
 Lord Verschoyle was evidently not in the mood to be 
 amused. He was puzzled and not a little worried. A 
 certain restlessness had come over him. He walked 
 about the room twisting his moustache and muttering 
 words chiefly of an ejaculatory character. 
 
 " Shall I ? I wonder damned if I can make up my 
 mind," was one of the most complete sentences which 
 escaped his lips. 
 
 Then he glanced at the mirror, straightened himself, 
 and did what he ought to have done at first took 
 advantage of Violetta's permission and lit a cigarette. 
 
 Meanwhile, Violetta was somewhat perturbed by 
 Lord Verschoyle's visit. She had had him in her mind 
 a good deal and was fearful lest he should think she 
 had not done the correct thing in keeping him in the
 
 222 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 dark about the trial spin. But really, she was quite 
 innocent. If anybody was to blame it was Peter Gumley. 
 
 When she appeared, followed by Mrs. Stubbles bearing 
 a tray loaded with dainties, she looked brighter and 
 fresher, and Lord Verschoyle's eyes glinted with pleasure. 
 To his military mind she was the ideal woman neat, 
 trim, composed yet easy in manner and with a certain 
 alertness of intellect which forbade the idea than she 
 could ever be taken unawares. With all this there was 
 evidence of a desire to please, a most admirable feminine 
 virtue. 
 
 The tea was served in the old-fashioned way, and 
 Mrs. Stubbles discreetly left them to themselves, sitting 
 opposite to each other. Despite her unruffled demean- 
 our, Violetta was conscious of a feeling of embarrassment. 
 She was very anxious to clear away any possible mis- 
 understanding, but she did not quite see her way to 
 approach the subject. While she was cudgelling her 
 brains, Lord Verschoyle suddenly said : 
 
 " Do you know, Miss Vaughan, you're a most wonder- 
 ful woman." 
 
 Violetta opened her eyes wide at this. 
 
 " In what way ? " she asked. 
 
 " In the way you can keep a secret." 
 
 " That isn't wonderful at all. What really is 
 wonderful is the delusion men are under in fancying 
 that women cannot keep their lips closed when they 
 choose. But what's the secret I've kept ? " 
 
 " Before I answer that question, I want to know 
 whether we're friends or enemies." 
 
 Just a tinge of seriousness had crept into his lordship's 
 voice. 
 
 " Friends, of course. Why shouldn't we be ? " 
 
 " Quite so. I can't imagine you otherwise. But 
 there's no getting away from the fact that you're up 
 against me over the Derby." 
 
 " Then Mr. Gumley has told you," she cried, with 
 heightened colour, "I'm glad of that, He had no
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 223 
 
 business to keep you in the dark when your horse was 
 tried against mine. I was very angry about it." 
 
 " You weren't to blame. Peter let me have the 
 whole story of your amazing power over horses and, 
 may I add, over ahem ! men also and I again say 
 you're a most wonderful woman." 
 
 " Never mind about that, Lord Verschoyle. Do 
 let us straighten out this business at once. I guess 
 Peter has told you that if Belphegor runs at the Derby 
 as he ran that night at Holberry Down he's bound to 
 win barring accidents, of course. Quicksand hasn't 
 a chance. Belphegor 's only rival is Killarney, and " 
 
 " And Tom All worth will be up, which he wasn't 
 the other night at Peter's," put in Verschoyle. 
 
 "I'm not afraid of Allworth even. Belphegor 's 
 the finest horse I ever saw in my life, and he'll be ridden 
 by the only jockey who understands him. He's never 
 been fairly tried as he will be at the Derby." 
 
 " Good. Now we know where we are, don't we ? 
 Suppose we both throw our cards on the table. I 
 stand to win 1,000 on Killarney. If he doesn't pull it 
 off I drop 5,000 or 6,000." 
 
 " You ought to hedge. Back Belphegor." 
 
 " Not good enough. The odds this morning are 
 dashed close. Killarney 5 to 2, Belphegor 3 to i. 
 Had a wire from Tattersalls an hour ago. But ' 
 
 His lordship's eyes twinkled. 
 
 " I backed him the first thing in the morning after 
 the trial at 10 to I. Peter came over the same night, 
 and we had a long jaw." 
 
 " Good old Peter," cried Violetta, clapping her hands. 
 " Now that was really awfully decent of the old boy. 
 I think I rowed him a bit for not letting you know. But 
 tell me if Belphegor wins, are you safe ? " 
 
 " Quite safe." 
 
 " Oh, I am glad." 
 
 Violetta's increased colour had never left her. Her 
 eyes fairly blazed with excitement. The pleasure she
 
 224 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 felt had revealed a fascinating dimple in her left cheek. 
 She looked supremely alluring. 
 
 At least, that was Lord Verschoyle's opinion. 
 
 " And what about you," said he, " if Killarney wins ? " 
 
 " Oh, I can pay what I shall owe on Belphegor." 
 
 " You haven't then backed my horse ? " 
 
 " No. You'll forgive me, won't you ? I made quite 
 a pile through his victory at Newmarket." 
 
 Lord Verschoyle sat silent ; his brows wrinkling 
 the while. 
 
 " By gad, Miss Vaughan," he suddenly burst out, 
 " if you're not as puzzling as you are wonderful. But 
 that's like a woman I mean one who's interesting." 
 
 " Is that intended for a compliment ? " 
 
 " I don't know what it's intended for. It's the 
 truth, anyhow. But why the deuce didn't you back 
 Killarney ? Belphegor wasn't in your mind, was he ? 
 Anyhow, he hadn't been run against Killarney at that 
 time." 
 
 " I fancy I'm full of superstition. I wanted you to 
 win the Two Thousand with Killarney and so I backed 
 him for you." 
 
 " For me ? " he interposed, in a bewildered tone. 
 
 " Yes. You don't in the least understand, but that's 
 of no consequence." 
 
 How could he understand ? What did he know 
 about her occult power of acting as a mascotte ? 
 
 " Then you don't care about my carrying off the 
 Blue Riband at Epsom ? " said he. 
 
 " Well, I'm in a difficulty. You see there's Belphegor. 
 I should like him to win." 
 
 It was not necessary to explain to Lord Verschoyle 
 that a victory of Belphegor carried with it two things 
 the undoing of Dan Westoby and the re-instatement 
 of Norman at Normanhurst that is, if Norman cared 
 to avail himself of the chance. She stood to win a 
 big sum with Belphegor, and she was quite prepared 
 to lend Norman a substantial amount. But the great
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 225 
 
 thing, from her point of view, was that in running 
 Belphegor she was acting for Norman and not for 
 herself. She was not prepared to argue the matter by 
 the light of common sense. What had common sense 
 to do with the occult ? 
 
 The tea was over. They had sauntered to the window 
 and were looking across the garden. The season was 
 well advanced, and iris, lily and early roses were in 
 bloom. The air, thanks to the elevated position of the 
 Owl's Nest, was delightfully sweet and fresh and in- 
 vigorating. The sense of isolation had its charm. 
 
 " Seems to me, Miss Vaughan, that I'm better off than 
 you. I shall win whichever way the Derby goes." 
 
 " It's what I would wish." 
 
 He cast a glance at her face. It was slightly averted 
 and her profile alone presented itself. How firm, how 
 regular, it was cut, he thought. It reminded him of a 
 cameo. 
 
 " Do you know," said he, abruptly, " that I'm greatly 
 indebted to you ? But for your coaxing me into putting 
 up Tom Allworth for the Two Thousand I should have 
 lost heavily. No other jockey could have snatched 
 victory at the post as he did. That boy's riding of 
 Quicksand was a marvel." 
 
 " He rides Belphegor for the Derby," rejoined Violetta, 
 quickly. 
 
 " I congratulate you. Well, if Belphegor wins it'll 
 be your work anyhow." Then, after a pause, and a 
 fidgeting twist of his moustache, he went on : 
 
 " Look here, Miss Vaughan, I want to ask you a 
 question will you marry me ? " 
 
 Violetta stared blankly at him. Surely he could 
 not be in earnest. 
 
 " In token of your gratitude ? " she said with a little 
 mocking smile. 
 
 " By Jove, no. Don't treat the thing as a joke. 
 I never in my life was more serious. I suppose I didn't 
 make my proposal in the proper way. But what is 
 
 P
 
 226 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 the proper way ? If it is to surround one's declaration 
 with a lot of soppy sentimentality, well, then I can't 
 do it. But I don't believe you'd care for that kind 
 of thing." 
 
 " Oh, I should hate it." 
 
 The mocking smile had fled. There was nothing of the 
 coy maiden in her frank, clear eyes. She spoke as she 
 felt and he knew it. 
 
 " Exactly what I should expect," he whispered 
 joyously. " I won't say that if I were eighteen instead 
 of thirty-eight I shouldn't have burst into some sort 
 of love rot compared your eyes to stars they're 
 much brighter, by the way and so on. As it is, I 
 again ask, will you marry me ? " 
 
 She did not answer at once. 
 
 " It wants thinking over for you as well as for me," 
 said she softly. 
 
 " I grant you. I don't suggest one of the get-married- 
 quick war weddings. The time's gone by for that 
 madness. I don't ask you to decide offhand." 
 
 " You know nothing about me, and if I marry you 
 or anyone you ought to know." 
 
 " I don't see that. I take you as you are. I don't 
 believe, and I never did believe, in the stupid theory 
 that women were born to tempt and deceive. My 
 best friends have always been women." 
 
 " So, then, you have a past," said she, the ghost of 
 her mocking smile flitting across her face. 
 
 " Nothing to be ashamed of, anyhow. But you won't 
 want to know my past any more than I want to know 
 yours if you have what's called a past." 
 
 " Well, I have, and I'd rather it came to you from 
 the lips of my enemies than from mine." 
 
 " That's plucky of you. But surely you haven't 
 enemies ? " 
 
 " Every woman who tries to go her own way is bound 
 to have. When she defies conventionality she's either 
 ridiculed or condemned. I have two enemies you
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 227 
 
 saw how they recognised me at Newmarket George 
 Godfree and Dan Westoby." 
 
 " Those two bounders ? " cried his lordship, hotly. 
 " Yes, I saw the fellows, and I longed to kick one of 
 them that unprincipled ruffian and blackleg, Godfree. 
 I've never spoken to Westoby, and I've had no dealings 
 with him, but I believe his reputation's none of the 
 best." 
 
 " I've no doubt you're right. Anyway, I refer you 
 to these two for my character. What the one doesn't 
 know the other will supply." 
 
 " Talk to those blackguards about you ? I'm damned 
 I beg your pardon if I do. George Godfree 's one 
 of the biggest liars and scoundrels going. I knew 
 him years ago. He was in my regiment and was 
 cashiered for cheating at cards. He married a woman 
 of no class. Christine Devenport she called herself 
 I'll go bail her real name was Sally Spriggins or some- 
 thing equally low down. I hear that the precious 
 couple are exploiting themselves in the West end picking 
 up flats. They work in couples or single-handed, ac- 
 cording to circumstances. Few people know they're 
 man and wife. They're careful not to let that out. 
 She has half a dozen aliases, but her pet name's Mrs. 
 Willoughby-Smythe a widow from Chicago. I 
 apologise to you for plunging you into Godfree's sordid 
 vicious world." 
 
 " It has its interesting side," rejoined Violetta, 
 thoughtfully. " You've told me more about Mr. Godfree 
 than I knew. How long has he been married ? " 
 
 " Ten years at least The lady's no chicken, though 
 she fakes herself up to look like one. But for heaven's 
 sake don't let us talk any more of this miserable subject. 
 Do get back to what's worrying me and has been for 
 days and days past. Are you going to think over my 
 question ? " 
 
 " Most certainly if you'll promise to do so too. Many
 
 228 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 things may happen that may cause you to change your 
 mind." 
 
 " I can't imagine anything unless you're going to 
 marry somebody else." 
 
 " Well, I'm not," said she, with more emphasis than 
 she intended. 
 
 " I breathe again. Shall we leave it at that, Violetta ? 
 I warn you it's going to be Violetta with me whatever 
 comes to pass. You don't mind ? " 
 
 " No, I've been Violetta so long that Miss Vaughan 
 sounds quite strange and hatefully formal." 
 
 It was clear his lordship was satisfied with the way 
 his proposal was shaping. He held her hand with a 
 gentle, tender, pressure ; he looked at her with longing 
 eyes. Then he abruptly said good-bye and walked 
 rapidly away as though he must have kissed her had 
 he stayed. 
 
 At the gate he turned and lifted his hat with a sweeping 
 bow that expressed confidence. Violetta waved her 
 hand and smiled. 
 
 But the smile fled as she went into the house. She had 
 so much to ponder over. 
 
 MORE food for thought was to come. Destiny had 
 ordained that day to be the most absorbing in Violetta's 
 life. 
 
 Lord Verschoyle's proposal had embarrassed her 
 terribly. She liked the man.^she admired_his blunt
 
 honesty, she felt he was chivalrous, but granting all 
 this, why should she marry him ? Possibly most women 
 past the romantic age of the teens ask themselves this 
 question und^r similar circumstances, and when they 
 discover a reason why they should say yes, that reason 
 may be wholly fanciful and ill founded. But from 
 some feminine idiosyncracy it generally suffices. 
 Violetta, however, had not arrived at this stage. She 
 was troubled. 
 
 The sudden intrusion of Norman and his affairs, 
 brought about strangely enough by Lord Verschoyle, 
 was the source of her trouble. She had it now in her 
 power to set Norman free from his chains. Of course, 
 he ought to be told, but what would follow ? 
 
 The truth was, she was disappointed with Norman. 
 She had lost the interest she once felt in him. He had 
 been so impassive so irresolute. If he had really 
 been in love with her, she argued, he ought to have 
 told her so, wife or no wife. Whether she would have 
 encouraged him was not the point. Her attitude had 
 nothing to do with the matter. Anyhow, he had lost 
 his chance of winning her, if he ever had one, about 
 which she was extremely doubtful. 
 
 She had just come to this conclusion when Stubbles 
 announced a visitor a gentleman. As usual, he had 
 refused to give his name. 
 
 Lord Verschoyle had been gone about twenty minutes. 
 It was hardly likely to be he. He certainly would 
 not have chosen to be anonymous. But it might be 
 Dan Westoby. 
 
 Not on any account would she admit Westoby into 
 the house, and she went into the hall with the light of 
 battle in her eyes. 
 
 She stopped, transfixed with astonishment. The 
 visitor was Sir John Norman. 
 
 He came forward with an air which was distinctly 
 apologetic. Violetta instantly recovered herself and 
 advanced to meet him. They shook hands, and for a
 
 230 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 few moments not a word passed. Violetta was the 
 first to speak. 
 
 " This is a surprise, Sir John," said she, anxious to 
 end the embarrassment. 
 
 " I ought to have written. It isn't fair to take you 
 unawares," he stammered. 
 
 ' You haven't done that. I'm very glad to see you." 
 
 " Really ? I don't know what you must think of my 
 silence. But I had good reasons. I've gone through 
 a great deal of worry and anxiety." 
 , " I hope that's all passed away." 
 i " No, unfortunately." 
 
 By this time they were in the sitting-room. Norman 
 was ill at ease and Violetta pointed to a chair. He sat 
 down wearily. His first words were totally unexpected : 
 
 " That was Lord Verschoyle whom I passed in the 
 lane leading to your road, wasn't it ? " 
 
 " Yes, do you know him ? " 
 
 " Only by sight. He may know me, but I can't say. 
 At all events, he didn't see me. He seemed in very good 
 spirits." 
 
 " Did he ? " 
 
 Their talk appeared destined to be carried on in jerks. 
 
 " I'd like to explain why I haven't written to you. 
 I hope you've been comfortable here ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, I feel quite at home." 
 
 He was so absorbed in his own thoughts he hardly 
 heard her. 
 
 " I needn't tell you," he went on, " that my worry 
 was about Christine, my wife you know. I've been 
 seeking to commence proceedings for a divorce. There's 
 ample cause, but the exposure would be so terrible that I 
 hesitated. Yet things can't go on as they are, and I 
 must take some decided step. I think I should have 
 written or called upon you but for Mr. Barlowe's opinion 
 that it would not be prudent." 
 
 " You mean that disagreeable things were likely to 
 be said ? "
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 331 
 
 " Yes," he rejoined, evidently relieved at her calm- 
 ness. " And they were said and by Ella. She amazed 
 me by her base insinuations. We had a violent quarrel, 
 over you, and I left the house next morning. I haven't 
 seen or heard from her since." 
 
 " I'm very sorry I should be the cause of your es- 
 trangement." 
 
 " It's really turned out for the best. She's going to 
 marry the vicar, and the necessity of doing something 
 for myself forced me to look up some of my friends 
 Government johnnies, you know the permanent 
 officials who stick to their posts like leeches and don't 
 go out like their ornamental heads with every general 
 election. I've been landed very comfortably, but the 
 drawback is that I must drop the divorce business. 
 The scandal would smash me up. The chief of my 
 department wouldn't stand it, you know." 
 
 " I don't suppose he would. Well, I think I can 
 get you out of your difficulty. Your enquiries I guess, 
 haven't led you to the discovery that the woman with 
 whom you went through the marriage ceremony was at 
 the time the wife of your friend George Godfree." 
 
 " What ! Good Heavens, how did you learn that ? ' 
 Norman cried, agitatedly. 
 
 " It doesn't matter. All I can say is that my in- 
 formant isn't likely to make a mistake or say that 
 which isn't true. You've only got to get data to go upon 
 and Somerset House will do the rest." 
 
 Norman made no reply. He was quite unnerved. 
 He sat mopping his damp brow and staring helplessly 
 at Violetta. 
 
 " So I'm free, and thanks to you," at last he muttered 
 brokenly. 
 
 " No thanks to me. It was quite by accident I 
 learned the news. All the same, I congratulate you." 
 
 With a violent effort he pulled himself together and 
 speaking fairly calmly, said : 
 
 " It's only right you should know what I've been told
 
 S32 A QUfeEN 6F THE PADDOCK 
 
 about you. It's nothing to your discredit, but it's 
 worried me a good deal, and I should have said the 
 story was a lie if it hadn't come from two sources 
 both tainted, I may say. Mind you, it's no business 
 of mine, and I've no right to utter a word to you on the 
 subject it's solely that I may ease my mind by hearing 
 you deny what's being said." 
 
 Violetta suspected what was coming, but she would not 
 assist him. In her opinion, he had either deteriorated 
 or some change had come over herself. Somehow, she 
 no longer felt sympathetic towards him. 
 
 " Well," said she, simply. 
 
 " It's said you're continually on the race course 
 that you bet that you're friendly with the men who 
 are my aversion bookmakers. You know I owe my 
 ruin to one Dan Westoby by name." 
 
 " I'm not likely to forget. What you've heard about 
 my going to races, betting, and all the rest of it, is 
 perfectly true. I even own a race horse, but that's a 
 secret. Keep it to yourself, please." 
 
 He was staggered. He stared at her amazed, 
 confused. 
 
 " I I am sorry," he stammered. " The associations, 
 the surroundings of the turf are to me so repulsive 
 that that " 
 
 " Of course they are. They must be. You were 
 unlucky. Do you recollect once forbidding me to talk 
 about horses and racing ? It's I, now, who forbid 
 your mentioning the subject. It isn't worth while, 
 is it ? " 
 
 " Oh, you're right you always were. No doubt 
 I'm prejudiced. You see, I had such a beastly ex- 
 perience and of course I was a fool. But " he 
 
 looked at her yearningly. She had spoken so kindly ; 
 she hadn't shown the slightest rancour at his pre- 
 sumptuous criticism. She was more than ever adorable. 
 
 " Confound it, Violetta," he burst out, " now that I 
 can say what's in my heart, why should I keep it back ?
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 233 
 
 I love you I've always loved you from the day when 
 I first saw you at Normanhurst. Things then were 
 impossible, of course, but by Heaven if I had only run 
 across you when when I was free " 
 
 " Don't make me laugh," she gently interposed. 
 " What you're saying isn't very flattering, you know. 
 I can't help thinking you were at that time ready to 
 marry anybody. Your Christine amply satisfied 
 you." 
 
 Norman bit his lip and coloured deeply. He stood 
 rebuked, and he knew he deserved her sarcasm. He 
 knew also that a declaration of love would not meet 
 with much success at all events, while Violetta was 
 in her present mood. 
 
 But some impulse, some temptation led him on. 
 
 " Oh, I admit I was an ass an egregious ass. And 
 being so, I suppose I'm not good enough for you. But 
 I should worship you, all the same." 
 
 " Thanks. I don't want any man's worship. That 
 kind of thing's a delusion." 
 
 " It may be so, but that's how I feel. Just to con- 
 vince you that I've a grain of practical common sense, 
 may I say that my pay is quite substantial much more 
 than I'm worth I'll swear that Barlowe tells me the 
 landed property he saved from the wreck is rapidly 
 increasing in value, and that he's in hopes of proving 
 that Westoby cheated me over Normanhurst." 
 
 " I congratulate you." 
 
 " All this means a lot to me. It means my hopes," 
 went on Norman hurriedly, " and now that I know 
 from your lips that I'm no longer shackled, the cherished 
 wish of my heart " 
 
 " I can understand how landed property has gone up," 
 interposed Violetta, remorselessly cutting him short 
 she was not in the mood for Norman's sentimental 
 vein " I always said the rent of the Owl's Nest was 
 far too low. I'm quite prepared to pay more." 
 
 " Violetta ! " he exclaimed, reproachfully.
 
 234 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " I'm speaking in your own interest. You really 
 ought to be more business-like." 
 
 " What has business to do with love ? I want you 
 for my wife, Violetta. I've always wanted you " 
 
 " Yes, you said as much just now, but it's of no use. 
 I'm sorry to disappoint you, but my answer is no, and 
 always will be." 
 
 She did not wish to be harsh in her tone and manner, 
 but she could not help it. He irritated her at that 
 moment. 
 
 His face fell. He looked utterly miserable. 
 
 " We've been exceeding!}' good friends," went on 
 Violetta, quickly, lest there should be an embarrassing 
 pause, " and I should like our friendship to continue, 
 but there'd be an end to it if you imagined I should 
 alter my mind. Take my advice and lose no time 
 in verifying what I told you about your Christine." 
 
 " Of course. I I can see that I've been premature. 
 I ought to have made sure where I was before I said 
 what I did just now." 
 
 " It would have made no difference. Pray don't 
 mistake me." 
 
 She was becoming distressed. She wanted him to go. 
 Why couldn't he see that ? She had had the day of 
 her life. Three proposals of marriage within some 
 ten hours ! What woman could go through such a 
 strain and not show it ? 
 
 " Very well. I obey. Good-bye." 
 
 He held out his hand and she took it. Her turmoil 
 of mind was evident in her face. Her expression was 
 softer than Norman had ever seen it. It was tender. 
 It had something in it indefinitely appealing. In an 
 instant he was tempted to recur to the tabooed subject. 
 Naturally, he imagined her unusual emotion was due 
 to his influence, whereas all she wished was to get rid of 
 him. 
 
 He raised her hand to his lips and she was alone. 
 Truly, Violetta might have said that no act in his life
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 235 
 
 became John Norman so well as his departure out of 
 hers ! 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 VIOLETTA'S TRYING DAY 
 
 OF her three offers of marriage, Violetta thought most 
 about Dan Westoby's. It oppressed her. It filled her 
 with apprehension. But it also stimulated her to be 
 on the alert. She felt that Westoby was not a man to 
 take a defeat lying down. 
 
 She was right. She had not left him five minutes 
 before he sent a wire to Godfree, and then, locking the 
 door, gathered up the torn Treasury notes with the 
 intention of piecing the fragments together at some 
 time or another. If Violetta was fool enough to throw 
 away 250 he was not, and especially at that time. 
 
 Godfree arrived post haste. He had some news 
 about Violetta which he had kept in reserve until a 
 fitting moment came for making money out of it. That 
 moment had now arrived. He and Westoby lunched 
 together and Godfree, after hearing what the bookmaker 
 had to say, told him the important piece of news for a 
 consideration. The news was that the owner of Bel- 
 phegor was Violetta Vaughan. 
 
 A sickly grin spread itself over Westoby's face. He 
 rarely laughed audibly. He chuckled sometimes, but 
 more often a noiseless grin sufficed, as it did now. After 
 a long consultation Godfree received his instructions 
 and returned to town with money in his pocket. All 
 that evening the Honourable George prowled about 
 Leicester Square, Coventry Street, Piccadilly Circus, 
 and the Piccadilly end of Regent Street, occasionally 
 making brief excursions into Shaftesbury Avenue. He
 
 236 
 
 specially favoured the outside of restaurants and taverns. 
 
 At last he found the man he was seeking a miserable 
 looking creature, seedily dressed, blotchy faced, dull 
 eyed Alf Richards. 
 
 " Hullo, Alf," said Godfree, thickly (while hovering 
 about the exteriors of the various hostelries he had not 
 forgotten the interiors), " what are you up to ? " 
 
 " Same old game, Mr. Godfree stony broke. It's a 
 toss up between the workhouse and Father Thames." 
 
 " While you're making up your mind come and have 
 a ' livelier.' There's just time." 
 
 It was ten minutes to ten. A public house was handy, 
 and George ran his man into the saloon bar and elbowed his 
 way through a jostling, noisy crowd clamouring for their 
 last drink. Godfree was well-known to the girls behind 
 the counter, and was soon served two double brandies. 
 Alf swallowed his at two gulps. His eyes glistened. 
 He looked at Godfree expectantly. He knew the Hon- 
 ourable George was not one to fling his money over so 
 wretched an object as himself without wanting something 
 in return. 
 
 " Look here, Alf," whispered Godfree. " I can put 
 you on to a good job, but we can't jaw about it here. 
 Come along to the Cafe Astrachan." 
 
 Amid the raucous yells of " Time, gents, please," 
 the two men edged themselves out. The Cafe Astrachan 
 was not five minutes walk away, and the clock was on 
 the stroke of ten when they reached the grimy uninviting 
 establishment which might have been a third class 
 estaminet of Montremart in its suggestiveness of dirt 
 and sottish dissipation. 
 
 The inside favoured the resemblance. It was a long, 
 narrow shop with bare walls and no attempt at decora- 
 tion beyond a couple of faded woollen rugs hanging 
 from two of the panels, with what object only the 
 proprietor knew. To the ordinary person they were 
 of neither use nor ornament. The air was hot, foetid, 
 stuffy with the fumes of rank tobacco. Obvious second-
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 237 
 
 hand marble-topped tables and uncomfortable cheap 
 non-upholstered chairs were ranged in two rows with a 
 centre gangway. There were no such luxuries as velvet 
 benches ; if the floor was covered with oilcloth, the 
 pattern was indistinguishable through wear and dirt. 
 
 The place was about three parts full with a nondescript 
 crowd, mostly dark visaged, unkempt haired and shabbily 
 dressed. Clean collars and cuffs were apparently un- 
 known. Foreign nationalities prevailed, but by a 
 quarter past ten the scourings of the neighbouring 
 restaurants would swarm in and tax the energies of the 
 active, business like waitresses to the uttermost. 
 
 The Astrachan was of the type of cafe which made 
 you feel depressed and degraded directly you entered 
 it. Some of the giggling noisy girls in tawdry dresses 
 and hats, at which a wardrobe dealer would have turned 
 up her nose, might have looked decent in other sur- 
 roundings, but here they suggested the Parisian apache 
 though for the most part they were English. Their 
 male companions, who paid in lamb-like fashion for 
 anything the girls wanted, and had probably been doing 
 so elsewhere all the evening, had no characteristics 
 beyond extreme foolishness. They were probably under 
 the impression they were seeing " life." 
 
 Somehow the unhealthy pallor of some of these young 
 fools, their leaden eyes, their subdued voices, the painted 
 cheeks, the blackened eyebrows, the excessively red 
 lips, and the hysterical laughter of the women most 
 of them hardly out of their teens brought to mind 
 the sinister suggestion of cocaine, veronal and goodness 
 knows what other modern nerve poisons. 
 
 Godfree and Richards took two vacant seats against 
 the wall and were soon discussing the " job." It had 
 to do with the profession into which Alf Richards 
 proposed entering years and years before doctoring 
 and drugs. The din was so deafening and incessant 
 when the late comers packed the place that the two 
 men could talk freely without the necessity of whispering
 
 238 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 save at times when the kernal of the matter was ap- 
 proached. 
 
 Alf was clearly averse from undertaking Godfree's 
 commission. Godfree got quite angry at the man's 
 obstinacy, and when Godfree was angry and half drunk 
 he was not very choice in his language. 
 
 " Don't be a damned ass," he growled. " You can't 
 afford it. You'll have to do what I want. You'd be 
 in an infernal fix if I were to drop a line to the police 
 about well, you can finish the rest for yourself." 
 
 The haggard face of Alf Richards was convulsed with 
 terror. He knew well to what Godfree alluded. Deep 
 down in the secret life of all great cities exists a mode 
 of income open to any man or woman with (or without) 
 a little surgical skill. From time to time the news- 
 papers reveal the secret. Richards when in desperate 
 straits had made use of his hospital studies in this 
 way, and though he had hitherto escaped the law, 
 Nemesis was always hanging over him. 
 
 " All that's past and forgotten," he mumbled. 
 " What holds me back is that I hate going against Miss 
 Vaughan. She's been a good friend to me and " 
 
 " Bah, shut up. Don't be maudlin. Violetta 
 Vaughan's not worth thinking twice about. She's 
 no better and no worse than others of her class who sell 
 themselves and live to fleece men. She's an unscrupu- 
 lous Circe and worse. / know." 
 
 " What do you know ? " suddenly came the words 
 from across the table. 
 
 Godfree raised his eyes. He recognised Lord 
 Verschoyle sitting opposite. 
 
 " This is a private conversation," returned Godfree, 
 with an insolent stare. " You've no right to interfere." 
 
 " I've every right when you speak insultingly of a 
 lady with whom I am acquainted, in a voice loud enough 
 for me and others to hear." 
 
 " If you hadn't been listening you wouldn't have 
 heard."
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 239 
 
 " You're a liar and a blackguard. I don't want to 
 make a disturbance in this place. I ask you to come 
 outside." 
 
 " And I ask you to mind your own business." 
 
 Verschoyle's reply was short and sharp. His fist 
 shot out and landed full on Godfree's nose. 
 
 " That's my business," he exclaimed. " If you're 
 a man, now come out." 
 
 Instantly the place was in a tumult. Men sprang 
 to their feet, those far from the scene mounted the 
 chairs, the waitresses fled, women screamed, the agitated 
 proprietor crying out something in a foreign tongue 
 vainly tried to force a path through the crowded gang- 
 way. 
 
 In his younger days Godfree had been a bit of a 
 bruiser, but he had long since lost his alertness and 
 activity. He retaliated but his blow missed. Before 
 the conflict could be renewed, some of the men restrained 
 the combatants, and the agonised proprietor having 
 by this time edged his way to the table, begged them 
 to go out. He did not want to send for the police. 
 
 Godfree was blinded by passion. When he thought 
 of Violetta and of his continual rebuffs at her hands, 
 the recollection always enraged him, and this galling 
 recollection was in his mind as he uttered his foul 
 aspersions. Physically, however, he was no coward. 
 He sullenly rose and went towards the door. Verschoyle 
 had already moved thither and was awaiting him. 
 
 Soon they were outside. Verschoyle had his old 
 chum, Sir Frederick Dartnell with him. The two 
 had strolled into the Cafe Astrachan purely out of 
 curiosity. This curiosity had been soon satisfied, 
 and they were about to leave when Godfree's words 
 reached their ears. 
 
 A fairly wide court was but two or three yards away. 
 Godfree knew it well. Said he in a grating, sneering 
 voice when they were at the corner of the court : 
 
 " You took a mean advantage of me inside the cafe".
 
 240 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 You knew we couldn't fight there. It won't be the 
 same thing here." 
 
 He jerked his head towards the opening of the court 
 and turned into it. Verschoyle followed, despite the 
 whispered remonstrances of Dartnell, to whom a fracas 
 of a low type did not appeal. Verschoyle took not 
 the slightest notice of his friend's words. He simply 
 handed him his hat. 
 
 There was no preliminary squaring or feinting. The 
 two went at it tooth and nail. They were about the 
 same age and build, but whereas Verschoyle was in 
 the very pink of condition, Godfree was quite off colour. 
 Almost the first blow settled him. He fell heavily 
 and remained on the ground like a log. 
 
 Verschoyle turned to Richards, who was looking on 
 dismayed. 
 
 " See to your friend. I've done with him." 
 
 Richards sided up, but instead of taking notice of 
 Godfree he whispered hoarsely to Lord Verschoyle : 
 
 " Thank you, sir, for what you did. George Godfree 
 deserved all he got and more. It was all lies, every 
 word about Miss Vaughan. She's as straight a woman 
 as ever breathed. By God, there's few who would have 
 come unscathed out of the beastly crowd she was in 
 some four or five years ago as she did." 
 
 " What do you know about her ? Who the deuce 
 are you ? " 
 
 " I'm no good to anybody, so what does it matter who 
 I am ? I'll only say this, that if Violetta Vaughan's 
 your friend you've got a real good pal." 
 
 " I believe you. But tell me. What did you mean 
 by that ' beastly crowd ? ' 
 
 " The Beak Street Club crew. It was this way." 
 
 In a few words Alf Richards gave a summary of his 
 recollections of Captain Vaughan's venture, to which 
 Verschoyle listened with intense interest. Alf did 
 not forget to enlarge on Violetta's many good points.
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 241 
 
 " Thanks. Now about Westoby. What has he to 
 do with Miss Vaughan ? " 
 
 " I don't know. Westoby doesn't often open his 
 mouth. But you'd better get. Godfree's moving. I 
 don't want him to see me talking to you. He's dan- 
 gerous." 
 
 " Is he ? Well, you've done me a good turn and 
 we'll dry up. You don't look over flourishing. This 
 may be of use to you." 
 
 He thrust a treasury note into Alf's hand and strode 
 away with Dartnell. 
 
 " What the devil's the answer to this riddle ? " 
 asked the latter. " You're about the last one to get 
 into a street brawl. I'm not curious, but, hang it, I'd 
 like to know. Who's Violet ta Vaughan ? " 
 
 " The woman I mean to marrv if she'll have me." 
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 DAN WESTOBY'S LAST COUP 
 
 PETER GUMLEY warned by Violetta, took extra pre- 
 cautions to guard the " cracks." She also made a 
 proposition to him to which he was strongly opposed 
 but she was so insistent that at last he reluctlantly 
 gave way. 
 
 Gumley had no fear of any attempt at foul play being 
 successful, but he had not reckoned upon Parsons, his 
 discharged groom. At one corner of the Holberry 
 Down property was a little patch of low-lying woodland 
 always swampy even in the time of drought. Beneath 
 the patches of weeds and water lay a mass of glutinous 
 mud and slime not much less than a foot deep. On 
 the shelving bank nearest the dry level ground amid 
 
 R
 
 242 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 the undergrowth was a fence of barbed wire. No 
 watchers patrolled this spot, as Parsons well knew. 
 
 On the further side of the wood was barren common 
 land, on which many years before a squatter had built 
 a hut. Before he had remained long enough to establish 
 his claim he was ejected but the hut was left to decay 
 at its leisure. Not far from the hut was a post some 
 ten feet high, with a fragment of a cross-piece hanging 
 loose, black with age and in places greenish with some 
 kind of fungus. It was all that was left of the gallows 
 where a century and a half ago and more, many a 
 criminal had passed his last moments. 
 
 After nightfall few people cared to cross the common, 
 and its solitude made the hut a very convenient place 
 for Godfree and Parsons to meet and arrange their 
 plans. The coup was to be brought off on the eve 
 of the Derby, run very late that year. 
 
 Parsons was not seen that night at the Barley Mow. 
 He had taken up his quarters at the hut, and with his 
 pipe and a flask of whisky for his companions, awaited 
 the coming of Godfree and Richards. The latter, 
 terrorised by Godfree's threats had surrendered himself 
 completely. 
 
 The hours crept slowly on. The time appointed 
 for the meeting was midnight. Every now and again 
 Parsons ventured from the hut, and looked anxiously 
 at the sky. His fear was lest there should be a moon, 
 but there did not seem to be much cause for appre- 
 hension on that score. The night was as dark as the 
 most enthusiastic burglar could wish. 
 
 A little after midnight he heard the steps which he 
 expected. The door opened, and Godfree appeared. 
 He was dressed in a close-fitting suit, and with a travelling 
 cap with the lapels pulled down over his ears. It may 
 have been that the night was chilly, or that he wanted 
 to disguise himself slightly. If the latter, the cap 
 answered the purpose fairly well. 
 
 " Well," said he, " are you ready ? "
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 243 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Then we'll start. There's no hurry, so we'll take 
 it leisurely. I reckon one o'clock's a good time, eh ? 
 What do you think ? " 
 
 " It ought to be. Ten o'clock's about the hour 
 everybody goes to bed." 
 
 They quitted the hut and tramped their way through 
 the bracken, which was now fairly high, towards the 
 gallows post. In the darkness a few yards away a man 
 was standing motionless, bis head bent, his hands 
 thrust in the side pockets of his overcoat. A slight 
 mist had arisen within a very few minutes and the 
 man's outline was so vague he might have been simply 
 a shadow. 
 
 Godfree went up to him and gripped his arm savagely. 
 
 " What are you mooning over, you ass," he whispered. 
 " Pull yourself together. If you're going to funk the 
 business give the stuff to me. But don't suppose, Alf, 
 you're out of it because I take on the job. I guess I 
 needn't remind you that I know something which might 
 lead you to the neighbourhood of the gallows. You're 
 close to it now, by the way. Get me ? " 
 
 Alf Richards turned his face ghastly grey it looked 
 in the gloom towards the horrible memento of the 
 past. 
 
 " I get you right enough, Mr. Godfree. You're the 
 sort of man who'd chuck anyone your best friend if 
 need be when they're no longer any use to you." 
 
 " Shut up. Are you going to back out ? That's what 
 I want to know ? " 
 
 " No. I'm up to the neck in this black business and 
 I'll have to go through with it." 
 
 " I reckon you will," muttered Godfree. 
 
 Ever since the night of his humiliation at the hands 
 of Lord Verschoyle, Godfree had never relaxed his 
 hold on Alf Richards. He had kept him continually 
 in a state of semi-intoxication. 
 
 They tramped on to the wood, Richards walking
 
 244 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 between his two companions, who had their hands 
 beneath his arms and forced him to go their pace. 
 Soon they were on the brink of the treacherous spot. 
 For nights past Parsons had been making preparations 
 for crossing. He had collected a number of boulders 
 and had sunk them at convenient intervals to form 
 stepping stones. Risky as was the showing of a light, 
 he flashed his electric torch and showed the tops of the 
 stones peeping above the water. 
 
 " This fool'll never keep his footing," growled Godfree. 
 ' You'll have to carry him on your back, Parsons." 
 
 " Not me, Mr. Godfree. I'd rather leave him here 
 and call for him as we come back. What's the good 
 of him as he is ? Pretty nigh non compost, I should 
 say." 
 
 Godfree admitted this. Hitherto he had not dared 
 to trust Alf Richards out of his sight, but in his present 
 half-helpless and wholly stupid condition he couldn't 
 do much harm. Certainly just now he was a nuisance 
 and a hindrance. 
 
 " Give him a drop of his own dope an' he'll be safe 
 enough," suggested Parsons facetiously. 
 
 " Don't talk rot. Let us go on and see what happens." 
 
 This was very soon settled. Richards promptly 
 collapsed. 
 
 " That does it," said Parsons. " He'll have to stay 
 where he is. Has he got the stuff on him ? " 
 
 " Of course he has. I wanted him to do the job. He 
 knows the ropes, but we'll have to carry on by our- 
 selves." 
 
 Godfree thrust his hand into the pocket of the pros- 
 trate man's overcoat and took out a cardboard box 
 and a phial. Richards seemed indifferent to or un- 
 conscious of what was being done. 
 
 Presently Godfree and Parsons attempted the tricky 
 crossing and got over safely. The}' scrambled up the 
 bank, cutting the lower strands of the barbed wire 
 fence on their way, and Parsons made for a sort of gully
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 245 
 
 at the bottom of which trickled a thin stream. This 
 they crept along and were well concealed. 
 
 The gully led to the wall of the stable yard, and at the 
 bottom of the wall was a circular opening to allow the 
 passage of the water. The latter continued its course 
 inside and had an outlet at the wail on the other side 
 of the yard. People often wanted to know the good 
 of this little open ditch with its surface drainage water. 
 They were told that if the water were prevented from 
 coming into the stable yard the soil which was clay 
 would dry and shrink, and the solid stable buildings 
 would be unsafe. 
 
 Parsons, who was familiar with every nook and 
 cranny of the Holberry Down stables, saw how the gully 
 and the circular opening in the wall could be made 
 use of. The opening was large enough for even a man 
 as big as Godfree to creep through. 
 
 It was done. Parsons went first, and soon the two 
 were crouching in the darkness. 
 
 " Which is the door of Belphegor's stable ? " 
 whispered Godfree. 
 
 " Keep close to me an' I'll take you straight to it. 
 He's in a stable all to himself. I told you so. Makes 
 things easy, don't it ? " 
 
 " What about the dog ? " 
 
 " Kennel's right over t'other side of the yard. He 
 won't bother us if you don't make no noise." 
 
 Presently he and Godfree were opposite the door. 
 Parsons had a duplicate key which he had had made to 
 further his depredations on the corn bin when he was 
 in Peter's employ. It was well oiled and moved noise- 
 lessly in the lock. They crept inside unseen, favoured 
 by the darkness and mist. 
 
 Parsons, of course, knew the situation of Belphegor's 
 stall, and crept towards it. He could discern a vague 
 outline of a figure on a bundle of hay at the entrance. 
 Godfree saw it too. 
 
 " Make for the boy quick," he breathed.
 
 246 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 The contemplated surprise attack might have been 
 brought off but for Belphegor who suddenly elected 
 to be restive. The recumbent form on the hay sprang 
 into life. The light of an electric torch flashed into 
 the two men's faces. 
 
 " You vil -" 
 
 The word was never completed. Parsons had clutched 
 the speaker's throat, while Godfree whipped open the 
 cardboard box. In a second a sponge saturated with 
 chloroform was pressing over nose and mouth. It was 
 dark once more for in the scuffle the electric torch had 
 been dropped among the hay. 
 
 All seemed to be going well, but again Belphegor's 
 temper asserted itself. Whatever was the cause, he 
 lashed out a hoof and caught Godfree a nasty kick on 
 the shoulder. 
 
 " Curse the brute," he muttered, together with a few 
 other epithets. 
 
 " Been w r orse if he'd kicked your leg," whispered 
 Parsons. " Where's the dope ? Stick the bottle to 
 the boy's lips. A drop or two follerin' that chloryform 
 ought to do the trick." 
 
 Godfree's right arm was useless. Parsons had to 
 administer the dose. 
 
 " It'll be all a job to physic that beast. / know him 
 too well. I'd rather put a bullet through his brains. 
 'Spose I fetch him a crack over the hocks. That ought 
 to spoil his running, I guess." 
 
 A long handled brush was on its nail close to the stall, 
 just as it used to hang in Parson's time. He snatched 
 at it, at the same moment Godfree gripped his arm. 
 
 " Leave it alone, you damned fool. I don't want to 
 hurt the horse." 
 
 " What ! Warn't there to be any hocussing ? " 
 
 " No, not of the horse the boy. Both I and Dan 
 \Vestoby mean to let the horse run and do his best 
 or worst most likely his worst." 
 
 " What did you bring me here for, then ? "
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 247 
 
 ' You've been well paid. Why are you grumbling ? 
 Look here, you blockhead. No one knows better than 
 you that there's only one jockey who can ride Belphegor. 
 Can't you see that if we knock out young Tim Hollis 
 Belphegor hasn't a dog's chance of winning, no matter 
 who's up ? Won't that rile its owner more than any- 
 thing ? Hocussing the brute with Hollis on his back 
 wouldn't do it half as much. What about that ? " 
 
 He pointed to the inanimate form on the hay. 
 
 " Miss Vaughan may scratch him," said Parsons, 
 gloomily. 
 
 " Not she. I'll give the devil his due. She's too good 
 a sport. Now then, let's clear out." 
 
 They crept back the way they came. They crossed 
 the stepping stones ; they stumbled upon Alf Richards. 
 He was lying exactly in the position in which he was left. 
 
 " I don't like this," muttered Godfree, uneasily. 
 
 He knelt down, felt the man's pulse, then his heart. 
 He glanced at the ashen face. The eyes were staring. 
 The lips were partly open. A little blood and froth 
 marked them. 
 
 " My God, Parsons, the fellow's dead ! " 
 
 The two men looked at each other. It was a 
 catastrophe totally unlooked for. Anyhow, they were 
 not responsible for his death. And, being dead, he 
 could say nothing. Fom this point of view the event 
 was all to the good. 
 
 " Let's leave him as he is," said Parsons in a low voice. 
 " It may be a week or more afore anybody '11 find him." 
 
 " That's so." 
 
 Parsons had already turned away, and Godfree was 
 about to follow when an idea suddenly struck him. He 
 took the cardboard box and the phial of " dope " and 
 thrust them into Richard's pocket. 
 
 " That'll explain everything," he thought. 
 
 Then he hurried off. 
 
 ******** 
 
 " Mary, I feel very worried about Belphegor. I
 
 248 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 oughtn't to have agreed," said Peter Gumley, rubbing 
 his chin with an air of uneasiness. 
 
 " I told you so, Peter. You shouldn't have said 
 yes to such a wild harum scarum idea." 
 
 " Well, it's done. Anyhow, there's been no signal and 
 I had the 'phone set up in case anything went wrong. 
 I wasn't to go unless I heard." 
 
 " That's nothing to do with it. It's pretty nigh 
 one o'clock in the morning ! Go and see if it's all right." 
 
 As Peter generally obeyed his wife, he went. 
 ******** 
 
 Three o'clock in the afternoon of the next day. Within 
 ten minutes or so the great race for the Derby stakes 
 would be decided. 
 
 The Derby Day has been described a thousand and 
 one times more or less. It would be but a tedious 
 repetition to attempt to do so again. Interest for 
 the present purpose is centred around two men, Dan 
 Westoby and George Godfree. The latter had his 
 right arm in a sling. They were anxiously awaiting 
 the horses. 
 
 At last the string entered the course and cantered 
 leisurely to the starting post. Westoby had stationed 
 himself sufficiently near to note every horse and every 
 jockey with the naked eye, but for all that he used 
 his field glasses. 
 
 " What the devil's the meaning of this ? " demanded 
 Westoby sharply. " Tim Hollis is up on Belphegor." 
 
 " Rats ! The" boy won't be fit to ride for a week. 
 I left him last night lying insensible. I by God, I 
 believe you're right. It is the urchin." 
 
 Most certainly it was, and as spry and as healthy 
 looking as he could possibly be. 
 
 " You've sold me, you sneak," burst out Westoby. 
 
 " Sneak yourself. I risked everything for you, and 
 nearly got killed in the bargain. Parsons must have 
 been hoodwinked. He swore that Hollis would be with 
 the horse all right. We doped some other stabli lad."
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 249 
 
 ' That's a lie. Peter wouldn't be such an ass. 
 Belphegor 's not to be trusted with a stranger." 
 
 He could say no more. The horses were being mar- 
 shalled. They were off. They started in a cluster, the 
 jockey's caps and jackets mingling in a confused mass 
 of colour. In half a minute no particular horse seemed 
 prominent ; then a blue and orange darted ahead. 
 It was Killarney, the favourite. Tom Allworth had 
 shaken his mount free from the ruck and Killarney 
 was rushing for dear life close to the rails. 
 
 " Damn ! I shall pull it off after all," muttered 
 Westoby. " Good horse ! great horse ! " 
 
 But at Tattenham Corner other horses were creeping 
 up. Foremost was a scarlet and black. 
 
 " Rouge et Noir ! Her colours. Curse the woman. 
 She hasn't forgotten her luck." 
 
 The thought was Westoby 's. It was an omen of 
 evil for him. Violetta was not now his mascotte ! 
 
 Yard by yard, foot by foot Belphegor overhauled 
 Killarney, which was visibly tiring. Allworth called 
 upon him for another effort, but the pace was too good. 
 Amid an uproar almost unparalleled, Belphegor passed 
 the post half a length in front of the favourite. 
 
 Westoby dropped his field glasses into their case with 
 a bang. He turned to Godfree, his face white as a 
 sheet, but quite cool in his manner. 
 
 " This lets me down to zero. I don't know whether 
 I've to thank you or Parsons, or the boy, or the 
 woman." 
 
 " Where are you off to ? " whispered Godfree, 
 anxiously, as Westoby was striding away. 
 
 "Don't know. To the devil, most likely." 
 
 He and Godfree, who was sticking to him, had hardly 
 got out of the crowd when a police inspector with a 
 couple of men who, despite their plain clothes, had 
 detective written all over them, approached. 
 
 " You are Mr. Dan Westoby, I think." 
 
 " Well ? "
 
 250 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 
 
 " And your friend's name, I believe, is George 
 Godfree." 
 
 " What do you want ? Out with it," said Westoby, 
 brusquely. 
 
 " I hold a warrant to arrest both you gentlemen on a 
 charge of conspiracy." 
 
 " Confoundedly vague. Conspiring to do what ? " 
 
 " To do bodily injury by administering a noxious drug 
 to one Violetta Vaughan," returned the inspector, 
 reading from the document in his hand. 
 
 " By God, she's done us ! " burst out Godfree, 
 furiously. 
 
 It was so. Violetta's plan was to dress herself in 
 Tim's clothes and take his place by the side of Belphegor. 
 She was dozing when Godfree and Parsons took her by 
 surprise. But she recognised Godfree and she had not 
 quite succumbed to the effects of the chloroform when 
 Belphegor shot out his hoof. Had Godfree tried to 
 shift the blame on to Alf Richards, his injured shoulder 
 would have given him the lie. But there was no 
 necessity. Parsons, to save his own skin as much as 
 possible, gave his employers away. 
 
 Violetta, unconscious, was of course discovered by 
 Peter Gumley, and a doctor was instantly summoned. 
 The quantity of the dope she had swallowed was for- 
 tunately very small, and she speedily recovered. 
 
 The last scene. (Enter Violetta and Lord Verschoyle). 
 
 VIOLETTA : " Now that I've told you all my 
 
 past, you may want more time 
 to think over the matter. In 
 marrying me you're marrying a 
 great risk, you know."
 
 A QUEEN OF THE PADDOCK 251 
 
 LORD VERSCHOYLE : " I don't care what risk I run 
 to get you, Violetta, and I'll not 
 take a second for thought. A 
 woman who can care for a horse 
 as you do can care still more for 
 a man. Dearest, you're my 
 mascotte for life ! " 
 
 THE END. 
 
 PRINTED AT THE DEVONSHIRE PRESS, TORQUAY, ENGLAND.
 
 THERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 A 000129989 o