Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-06-30
CHAPTER vi.
The Three Strange Men.

Cne Ihree StrnnXe Men.
The situation into which I was
thus pitchforked by the vagaries OF
whimsical fortune babe fair at first
sight to be by no means undesirable
or unpleasant. Indeed. it looked as
if | was about to live in clover
Lady Renardsmere, having engaged
me at a salary fixed by herself and
far beyond what | had intended to
ask of her, gave me couple OF
rooms for my very own, told off one
of her many domesticS to wait upon
me and intimated that outside my
Secretarial duties ] was free to do
what l liked with my time and was
to regard my own particular corner
of her big house as my castle.
l fetched my belongings from Lon
don and settled down. The first thing
was to find out what my new en-
ployer desired. That was soon ascer-
1ained. Her ladyship proved to have
two special aversions-she loathed
writing letters and she hated to keep
accounts. But, oddly enough, she
was most punctilious about answer
ing all her letters the very day she
got them, and as to accounts she was
meticulously particular about every
penny of her expenditure being
booked
My job. then. was to answer every
letter she received-even her private
ones, which were not maryland TO
keep her account books. During the
whole time I was with her l never
saw her put pen to paper. except TO
sign cheques. and it was just as
we'll that she was sparinS of her
penmanship. for a bigger, more
sprawling fist / never saw in my NE
her signature spread itself over the
entire surface of the lower half or
the cheque and looked as if it had
been scrawled with gardener
wooden pen rather than with the big
quilts which she affected.
She was Il queer woman in most
ways-utterly eXtravagant and care
ieSS where thousands of pounds were
in question: mean and parSimonlous
to the last degree when it came to a
question of pence. | saw instances
wherein she was foolishly prodigal
in spending her money-yet there
was never a week passed without
row if butchers meat advanced d
halfpenny a pound or salmon rose
from half crown to three shillings
Rough of tongue, emin emily mascu-
line rather than feminine, delight
ing in hard physical toll in her gar
dens ratS>r than in books or music
and the artistic things of life, this
old queen of the stage was an odd
ity and puzzle-but' as Peggy
hearted to the last degree and there
was not a soul in the neighboring
village who did not benefit by her
humanistic feeling.
AS for her servants, of whom. in
my opinion, she had far too many
they held her in great awe and
equally great affection. / think, too,
they regarded her as good deal OF
an eccentricity of whose next move
ments they were never sure, and |
speedily discovered that you never
knew what Lady Renardsmere was
going to do next; she would go off to
town in one of her magnificent cars
there were at least half a dozen in
her garage, of one sort or another)
at literally moments notice. and
turn up again at all or any hours of
the night, and woe betide the cook
a Frenchcan, who always wore
worried air-if he were not able to
give her dinner at 2 o'clock in the
morning. Queer, decidedly.-but as
far as | was concerned. easy enough
to get on with. so long as you were
quick to anticipate her wishes and
to do just what she wanted without
fuss or question.
/ found out all this within my first
fortnight at Renardsmere House.
And during that fortnight ] heard
nothing of the Portsmouth affair.