Rosamund; to score in the game of wits; to keep what she had planned to take from himâand in order to win he had mortgaged all his future. Now that the game was won, he had no pleasure in it. He did not care whether he was a beggar or not. He saw himself tied to a stranger, and all that he wanted was to be rid of her as quickly as possible.
Nan gave a little nod.
âVery well,â she said.
Then she came up to him with her hand out.
âGood-bye.â
For the second time that morning their hands touched. He said âGood-byeâ with an air of relief. Then, with her hand still in his, she looked past him and saw the photograph. It hung with other groups above the mantelshelf. Nan did not see the other groups at all. She saw a lawn set about with trees; an old man in a chairâMr Ambrose Weare, whom she had seen once; a woman standing beside himâRosamund Carew, whom she had never seen at all; and a third figureâa man walking across the lawn, his back to the camera.
It was at the third figure that Nan stared. Her hand tightened unconsciously on Jervis Weareâs hand.
âWhoâs that?â she said.
He turned. Their hands dropped apart.
Nan stood on tiptoe, pointing.
âWho is that?â
He threw her an astonished look. She had a bright colour in her cheeks; her lips were parted. Before he could look away she flashed round upon him.
âWho is that man?â
Jervis became, if possible, a shade more distant.
âHis name is LeonardâRobert Leonardâa connection ofâmy grandfatherâs. I donât think you are very likely to have met him.â
âIs he a friend of yours?â
His voice stiffened.
âA family connection.â
Nanâs right hand took hold of her left.
âYou are thinking itâs very strange that I should ask questions about Mr Leonard, but Iâve got a reason. Will you please tell me where he has been for the last ten years?â
He took a little more serious notice of what she was saying. Ten years ago she would have been a child; her interest in Robert Leonard could not possibly be a personal one.
âWhy do you want to know?â
âBecause I think I saw him once ten years ago.â
âOnce! Ten years ago! Good Lord! What sort of memory are you giving yourself?â
âDonât you remember anything that happened ten years ago? I doâlittle thingsâall sorts of thingsâlike little sharp pictures in my mind. When I saw that, I remembered him. Wonât you tell me what I asked?â
He laughed outright.
âWhy, the photograph doesnât even show his face!â
Nan wasnât remembering a face; she was remembering just that square thickset figure, and just that turn of the head.
âTell me,â she said.
âWhat do you want to know? Ten years agoâten years ago.⦠well, exactly ten years ago he was over on a visit from South America staying with my grandfather. I remember that because I know he was staying in the house when I nearly drowned myself out on Croyston rocks.â
âYes?â said Nan in a little half voice. âHowâhow did you do that?â
âOh, slipped up on the rocks and banged a hole in the back of my head. The tide was coming in, and they only found me just in time.â
Nan had turned very pale.
âMr Leonard found you?â
âOh noâhe wasnât anywhere about. It was an American fellow who was taking photographs.â
Mr Ferdinand Fazackerley rushed into Nanâs mindâimportant, efficient, and immensely talkative. And then he was gone again, and she saw the beach, the jagged rocks which hid the pool, and the thickset figure of a man coming from behind the rocks and walking away towards the headland. He was walking away from her, and he was walking away from Jervis, who lay half in and half out of the pool with a hole in the back of his head and the tide coming up. She said