akorn - Mighty Old Tales Retold

The Man in the Brown Suit - Chapters 32 & 33

CHAPTER XXXII & XXXIII
(Anne’s Narrative Resumed)
I had great trouble with Suzanne. She argued, she pleaded, she even wept before she would let me carry out my plan. But in the end I got my own way. She promised to carry out my instructions to the letter and came down to the station to bid me a tearful farewell.

The Man in the Brown Suit - Chapters 30 & 31

CHAPTER XXX & XXXI
(Anne’s Narrative Resumed)
As soon as I got to Kimberley I wired to Suzanne.
She joined me there with the utmost dispatch, heralding her arrival with telegrams sent off en route. I was awfully surprised to find that she really was fond of me—I thought I had been just a new sensation, but she positively fell on my neck and wept when we met.
When we had recovered from our emotion a little, I sat down on the bed and told her the whole story from A to Z.

The Man in the Brown Suit - Chapters 28 & 29

CHAPTER XXVIII & XXIX
(Extract from the diary of Sir Eustace Pedler)
As I remarked once before, I am essentially a man of peace. I yearn for a quiet life—and that’s just the one thing I don’t seem able to have. I am always in the middle of storms and alarms. The relief of getting away from Pagett with his incessant nosing out of intrigues was enormous, and Miss Pettigrew is certainly a useful creature. Although there is nothing of the houri about her, one or two of her accomplishments are invaluable. It is true that I had a touch of liver at Bulawayo and behaved like a bear in consequence, but I had had a disturbed night in the train.

The Man in the Brown Suit - Chapters 26 & 27

CHAPTER XXVI & XXVII
“You are right. My real name is Harry Lucas. My father was a retired soldier who came out to farm in Rhodesia. He died when I was in my second year at Cambridge.”
“Were you fond of him?” I asked suddenly.
“I—don’t know.”
Then he flushed and went on with sudden vehemence:
“Why do I say that? I did love my father."

The Man in the Brown Suit - Chapters 24 & 25

CHAPTER XXIV & XXV
We arrived at Bulawayo early on Saturday morning. I was disappointed in the place. It was very hot, and I hated the hotel. Also Sir Eustace was what I can only describe as thoroughly sulky. I think it was all our wooden animals that annoyed him—especially the big giraffe. It was a colossal giraffe with an impossible neck, a mild eye and a dejected tail. It had character. It had charm. A controversy was already arising as to whom it belonged—me or Suzanne. We had each contributed a tiki to its purchase. Suzanne advanced the claims of seniority and the married state, I stuck to the position that I had been the first to behold its beauty.
 

The Man in the Brown Suit - Chapters 22 & 23

CHAPTER XXII & XXIII
(Extract from the diary of Sir Eustace Pedler)
I am inclined to abandon my Reminiscences. Instead I shall write a short article entitled “Secretaries I have had.” As regards secretaries, I seem to have fallen under a blight. At one minute I have no secretaries, at another I have too many. At the present minute I am journeying to Rhodesia with a pack of women. Race goes off with the two best-looking, of course, and leaves me with the dud. That is what always happens to me—and, after all, this is my private car, not Race’s.

The Man in the Brown Suit - Chapters 20 & 21

CHAPTER XX & XXI
I drove to the hotel. There was no one in the lounge that I knew. I ran upstairs and tapped on Suzanne’s door. Her voice bade me “come in.” When she saw who it was she literally fell on my neck.
“Anne, dear, where have you been? I’ve been worried to death about you. What have you been doing?”
“Having adventures,” I replied. “Episode III of ‘The Perils of Pamela.”

The Man in the Brown Suit - Chapters 18 & 19

CHAPTER XVIII & XIX
(Anne’s Narrative Resumed)
I don’t suppose that as long as I live I shall forget my first sight of Table Mountain. I got up frightfully early and went out on deck. I went right up to the boat deck, which I believe is a heinous offence, but I decided to dare something in the cause of solitude. We were just steaming into Table Bay. There were fleecy white clouds hovering above Table Mountain, and nestling on the slopes below, right down to the sea, was the sleeping town, gilded and bewitched by the morning sunlight.

The Man in the Brown Suit - Chapters 16 & 17

CHAPTER XVI
I got an opportunity of tackling Colonel Race on the following morning. The auction of the sweep had just been concluded, and we walked up and down the deck together.
“How’s the gipsy this morning? Longing for land and her caravan?”
I shook my head.
“Now that the sea is behaving so nicely, I feel I should like to stay on it for ever and ever."

The Man in the Brown Suit - Chapters 14 & 15

CHAPTER XIV & XV
(Anne’s Narrative Resumed)
It was on the night of the Fancy Dress dance that I decided that the time had come for me to confide in some one. So far I had played a lone hand and rather enjoyed it. Now suddenly everything was changed. I distrusted my own judgment and for the first time a feeling of loneliness and desolation crept over me.